Mitch Daniels Should Run For Indiana's Senate Seat

Years ago William F. Buckley, Jr. was given credit for pushing the extremists out of the Republican Party.

No one has emerged to fill that role. And, if one were to, in today’s context, I doubt it would matter.

Politics is never perfect. When Mitch was Indiana’s Governor, he said a few things that made me cringe. He was pretty grumpy when it came to public schools, as one example. (Understatement.)

I attended a speech he once gave and a professor asked him a mildly pointed question. With this questioner, the Governor was polite and respectful. Later another person asked another somewhat pointed question. This fellow worked for the Department of Family and Children Services. His job was to help victims of abuse and neglect. The Governor’s body language changed and his answer had a measure of defensiveness and a tone of condescension.

On the other hand, Mitch served two terms as Indiana’s Governor and turned in a respectable performance on balance. And I have to think he learned a few things in his decade at the helm at Purdue where he also implemented some intelligent measures, particularly with regard to limiting accumulation of student debt.

Daniels has a big advantage over some of the others in contention: he’s perfectly sane. I hope he runs. We could do a whole lot worse and we might.