If the Republican establishment is freaking out over the growing specter of a nominee named Newt Gingrich, then maybe they'd ought to find someone else to run. Hey, how about that guy in Indiana, the one who almost threw his hat in, Governor Mitch Daniels?
“At this point it’s sort of water over the dam,” said Pat Kiely, president of the Indiana Manufacturers Association and a friend of Mr. Daniels. His decision to sit it out is “one that will always be in the back of the mind of the governor who thinks after watching the debates and the first three primaries that he could have been a contender.”
Tonight Governor Daniels is delivering the GOP response to President Obama's State of the Union address. Whether that's as close as he gets to a Daniels vs. Obama matchup in 2012 will be a story for the rest of 2012 to answer. The New York Times points to several hints of a movement to draft Mr. Daniels, including the RunMitchRun.com petition site screengrabbed above.
I've got a message in, but for now the news is that we know very little about it. "RunMitchRun.com is not connected to any candidate or campaign, current or prospective," reads the tagline. "The purpose of this petition, which was created by a single voter in Virginia, is to demonstrate to Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels that the number of Americans who would prefer him to the current field of candidates is more than sufficient to justify the effort."
The cry from the conservative soul was registered on January 19, before Newt Gingrich won the South Carolina primary and date he made a second debate audience love him. The conservative Daily Caller cites a Daniels insider as saying the governor won't be running.
(On the show: The great establishment freakout over Newt Gingrich)
(And: Indiana labor's ad against Governor Daniels set to run nationally -- including on our network -- after he talks.)