Would you Support a "Draft Mitch Daniels" Campaign?

[TheGlobalizer]

Yes, if Paul does not win.

[greenforest32]

Nay. The current crop of candidates (minus Paul) accurately reflects the GOP base.

Embrace it

[tmthforu94]

I'd take him if it meant avoiding the risk of having Gingrich.

[Meeker]

Of course I would. For the lulz

[morgieb]

No. He's too likely to win the presidency.

[Marokai Backbeat]

I find it pretty sad how the Republican Party can't seem to deal with the fact that the vast majority of their candidates are clowns, and that their voters are incapable of making even half-way decent choices, or maintain their support for one candidate for more than two weeks straight.

Deal with it guys. Seriously. You've gone through more "Great Right Hopes" since Obama's inauguration than I can count on all four limbs.

[Insula Dei]

I would be delighted with a Daniels entry

[Earthling]

No. You work with the people who actually wanted to run from the start.

Rick Perry went in as the savior of the Republican Party and he is back in Texas. That will turn people off.

[AndrewTX]

I probably would. I'd be happier with a "Draft John Thune" campaign though.

[Is Totally Not Feeblepizza.]

No. You work with the people who actually wanted to run from the start.

Rick Perry went in as the savior of the Republican Party and he is back in Texas. That will turn people off.

Rick Perry was a gaffe machine working in overtime. His record is also quite poor. Daniels has an advantage in both of those areas. He could win.

[Earthling]

I'm not saying that Daniels will go down like Perry, but the fact is that Perry came in as The Big Guy. The savior of the party. That he is back in Texas already will be a warning to other possible saviors.

And the other candidates will go after Daniels from the moment he steps in.

[Is Totally Not Feeblepizza.]

I'm not saying that Daniels will go down like Perry, but the fact is that Perry came in as The Big Guy. The savior of the party. That he is back in Texas already will be a warning to other possible saviors.

And the other candidates will go after Daniels from the moment he steps in.

What baggage does Daniels have that other candidates don't? Sure, he was divorced. Sure, his wife had an affair. Gingrich was divorced too. Even if the other candidates attack him on it, voters don't even really seem to care.

Even if Romney says, "You're only in this race because you're an opportunist," Daniels can say, "Yes--I saw that our chance as a party to defeat Obama in November was diminished by this weak field, so I stepped in myself."

[J. J.]

I think it is too late for another candidate.  Daniels would have been my first choice.

[Earthling]

I'm not saying that Daniels will go down like Perry, but the fact is that Perry came in as The Big Guy. The savior of the party. That he is back in Texas already will be a warning to other possible saviors.

And the other candidates will go after Daniels from the moment he steps in.

What baggage does Daniels have that other candidates don't? Sure, he was divorced. Sure, his wife had an affair. Gingrich was divorced too. Even if the other candidates attack him on it, voters don't even really seem to care.

We don't know what baggage Daniels has. We know about his wife, but maybe there is more, maybe not. We don't know.
And that makes it so dangerous. You can overcome baggage, when it is not all that bad, but you need time to do that. Clinton did in 1992 with the affairs, Obama in 2008 with Reverend Wright. Daniels doesn't have that time.

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There is a reason why he didn't run in the first place. He really needs to explain why he said no six months ago and still enters the race at this point. What changed?

I agree with J. J., it's too late for a candidate to enter. He won't be able to run in half of the primaries, he needs to start almost immediately, he needs the money and Romney needs to drop out.

[Is Totally Not Feeblepizza.]

We don't know what baggage Daniels has. We know about his wife, but maybe there is more, maybe not. We don't know.
And that makes it so dangerous. You can overcome baggage, when it is not all that bad, but you need time to do that. Clinton did in 1992 with the affairs, Obama in 2008 with Reverend Wright. Daniels doesn't have that time.

Clinton's scandals and Obama's scandals both broke about mid-campaign and lasted briefly. How, exactly, will Daniels not be able to recover from a two, three week media hyped scandal at the same speed with which Clinton and Obama did? I see no validity in that particular point.

There is a reason why he didn't run in the first place. He really needs to explain why he said no six months ago and still enters the race at this point. What changed?

Well, Daniels saw how, over time, the race just kept progressing from one rung of the hopelessness ladder to the next. Accordingly, he decided that it was in the best interests of his nation and party that he should run.

I agree with J. J., it's too late for a candidate to enter. He won't be able to run in half of the primaries, he needs to start almost immediately, he needs the money and Romney needs to drop out.

Admittedly, financing such a campaign would be a problem. Getting on the ballot in a lot of states would also be a problem. But if he were to secure a good chunk of the delegates, he could effectively force Romney and Gingrich into a bartered convention. That is where the idea of a compromise candidate in the general becomes very appealing to people who didn't like the idea of a Gingrich or a Romney nomination in the first place.

[NHI]

If Romney goes down then yes! I'd also support draft Bush, Christie and Ryan campaigns. ABG "Anyone but Gingrich"

[TJ in Oregon]

name one reason the jmfcsts would support Mr. Mitch "Let's-Surrender-The-Cultural-War" Daniels?!

He tried to defund Planned Parenthood in Indiana right after he said that. I would expect the jmfcsts to evaluate a politician more on what he does than on what he says.

[Peeperkorn]

Yes, because Romney has proven to be unqualified to be Leader of the Free World.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

The only remote possibility of any draft movement would he a hopelessly deadlocked convention.

[Peeperkorn]

The only remote possibility of any draft movement would he a hopelessly deadlocked convention.

Who knows. Think in all those republicans waiting for an Obama's landslide and losing all their new seats to democRats.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

name one reason the jmfcsts would support Mr. Mitch "Let's-Surrender-The-Cultural-War" Daniels?!

He tried to defund Planned Parenthood in Indiana right after he said that. I would expect the jmfcsts to evaluate a politician more on what he does than on what he says.

  if he is not willing to speak and act on a national level, then it doesn't matter what he has done on the state level


...but talking about him is moot, he is too unknown to work as a late entry

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

You know things are bad when Bush's budget director and the epitome of "boring white guy" is your savior.

If Daniels wanted to run, he would've.

[Earthling]

We don't know what baggage Daniels has. We know about his wife, but maybe there is more, maybe not. We don't know.
And that makes it so dangerous. You can overcome baggage, when it is not all that bad, but you need time to do that. Clinton did in 1992 with the affairs, Obama in 2008 with Reverend Wright. Daniels doesn't have that time.

Clinton's scandals and Obama's scandals both broke about mid-campaign and lasted briefly. How, exactly, will Daniels not be able to recover from a two, three week media hyped scandal at the same speed with which Clinton and Obama did? I see no validity in that particular point.

Because Obama and Clinton are far more charismatic. Mitch Daniels is probably a fine governor and politician but he doesn't seem to have the personal touch that Obama had in 2008 and Clinton in 1992. And you kind of need that to survive a storm like that.

And of course, when you are not capable of running in the primaries, it's crucial to do great in all the remaining ones. In two or three weeks, you can have 2 to maybe even 5 primaries. That is a lot if you buffer isn't that wide.

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Well, Daniels saw how, over time, the race just kept progressing from one rung of the hopelessness ladder to the next. Accordingly, he decided that it was in the best interests of his nation and party that he should run.[/quote]

He still needs to explain why he didn't run in the first place. Why did he opt to stay out in May. If it is because his wife didn't want him to run, then why did she change her mind.

The other candidates will ask him about this. And he needs a good answer. After all, the guys that are running now are the same guys that were running in May. The field in it self didn't change.

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Admittedly, financing such a campaign would be a problem. Getting on the ballot in a lot of states would also be a problem. But if he were to secure a good chunk of the delegates, he could effectively force Romney and Gingrich into a bartered convention. That is where the idea of a compromise candidate in the general becomes very appealing to people who didn't like the idea of a Gingrich or a Romney nomination in the first place.
[/quote]

Indeed, Daniels needs a brokered convention. And that creates a problem. Because if he wins the nomination at that convention it could create a problem with the base. After all, Daniels would be the establishments choice, not theirs. And you need the base to win in November.

I can see why it looks appealing. After all, of all the candidates named last year, Daniels seemed like the strongest. But he didn't run and I don't believe he has changed his mind or will change his mind.

[Is Totally Not Feeblepizza.]

Yeah, an "unnamed source" in his office or wherever said that he was not reconsidering. But can't I hope?

[Earthling]

Yeah, an "unnamed source" in his office or wherever said that he was not reconsidering. But can't I hope?

Of course you can. By the end of the day you will probably have your answer.