Mitch Daniels 2.0
Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels is sounding a theme of practicality over politics as he gears up for re-election. The Governor officially announces his re-election bid Saturday morning, but prior to that he sat down with reporters and pundits to talk about the past, the present and the future.
Somewhat surprisingly, the Governor said that his decision to run for re-election was not an automatic one. He said he didn’t make it until the end of the last legislative session. He said had not known how much change he and his administration would have made, he likely would not have run for a second term.
The focus of his campaign, he says, will be the Indiana economy, continued government reform and convincing Hoosiers to embrace change. He says saving the taxpayers’ money through efficiency and privatization has helped Indiana. He also said that there is a “New Indiana” emerging and the old political alliances are going by the wayside; referring to the political thought that Hoosiers are now more divided by change versus status quo as opposed to political party or region.
He did mention the opposition, saying some of it is sincere and other is pure politics. But what struck me the most is that the Governor is going to try to make the campaign about management rather than ideology.
2008 is a Presidential year, which means the usual wedge issues of immigration, abortion and gay marriage usually find a way to raise to the summit over the more substantive issues of the day. Daniels says those issues; specifically immigration and gay marriage are not a priority of his and plans to leave those to candidates for other offices.
He admitted to making mistakes, specifically not waiting to implement the computer conversion at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and not presenting the Commerce Connector in a better way. He said if you try as much as we did, “you won’t always hit the bulls eye.”
Democratic Party spokeswoman Jen Wagner said their party was not surprised that Daniels was announcing so early saying he had a long road ahead to repair his image and win back voters. She admits though it will take a unified party with a strong message and a lot of money, but Daniels can be beat.
The Governor seemed to be looking forward to taking another bite at the apple. He says he’ll ask voters to look at the results of the past four years which he described as active, positive and honest. And even if Daniels wins a second term, his opponents won’t have to fret too much, he also said that this will be his last campaign for public office.
Let the campaign begin.
