Five reasons Mitch Daniels should run for president, and five reasons Mitch Daniels should not run for president.
Best reason to run:
As many pundits have said, Daniels would add a much-needed adult voice to the political conversation. In a world of sound bites and pandering, he'd be a rare politician willing to talk frankly about entitlement and Pentagon spending. While other GOP candidates would attempt to play the role of America's preacher, he likely would be the most articulate voice on the dangers to the nation of increasing debt. If his time in Indiana is a gauge, he'd also be willing to take the harsh criticism that often comes with talking seriously about serious issues.
Best reason not to:
The reluctant candidate whom Daniels plays so well has generated glowing national media coverage. But once he enters the race, everything would change. His record would be scrutinized and his words parsed. His well-crafted image would immediately be dinged. He'd simply be another candidate, one without a national following or impressive poll numbers. The odds of winning are so long that it's worth asking whether a run is worth veering from the final 18 months of an agenda-defining gubernatorial administration.
Comments
PPP did favorability polling on Charlie Sheen.
"Sheen is one of the most unpopular figures we've ever polled on. 10% of Americans rate him favorably to 67% with a negative opinion of him. The only people we've ever found worse numbers for are Rod Blagojevich in Illinois (an 8/83 favorability spread), Jesse Jackson Jr. in Illinois (a 10/73 favorability), and Levi Johnston in Alaska (a 6/72 favorability). Sheen's -57 spread ties what we found for John Edwards in North Carolina the last time we polled him (15/72).
"Sheen's unpopularity is pretty universal across party lines so it says something about the level of polarization in the country right now that Democrats would support him by a 44-24 margin for President over Palin and that Republicans would support him 37-28 over Obama. People may not have any respect for Sheen but they still think he'd be a better alternative than their opposing party's leading figure."
If I were Mitch Daniels, I would NOT run for President. Instead, I'd stand on the sidelines and watch Donald Trump get chewed up by the machine.
The GOP doesn't define itself these days as what it is, so much as what it isn't: "We're not Obama". If someone from the GOP wants to run for President, they should spend the next four years rebuilding the GOP brand before they run. If someone from the GOP wins in 2012, they'll find themselves with an ungovernable country because the party doesn't agree on a platform.