Mitch Daniels' speech at CPAC (transcript and video both), after which he gets praise for the "gravity of his message" and "lack of grandstanding":
He plates plenty of red meat about America's lurch towards socialism, but per Weigel, he stayed away from social issues and attacks on Obama to focus on fiscal catastrophe.
Trying to head off "fiscal catastrophe" is exactly the message the nation needs to hear ("Our morbidly obese federal government needs not just behavior modification but bariatric surgery.") . But there's a bit of a dilemma:
1. Those running for president learn pretty quickly not to deliver that message.
2. People not running for president don't have the platform to get the message out.
Daniels says he won't run unless the people are ready to hear such dire warnings, and some of the things we've heard from indicate he thinks they are. Not so sure. Usually, we elect as president the most optimistic-sounding president, not the "take your medicine" types.
From the speech:
