The GOP has a group of anti-Israel policy wonks dating back to James Baker and Scowcroft and Colin Powell. I want a Reaganite foreign policy, not a Bush 41/Lugar version. Daniels is not good on these issues.

As to the 1% over 100k debacle, somehow I knew he didn’t mean it and was casting around for ways to raise some cash. I also remember instantly reacting the moment I heard about it in violent knee jerk manner. In fact I suspect that the reason I didn’t vote for the guy second time around was that his first instinct was to raise taxes. NOT a good sign. So, these two things aside, he has been a good fiscal steward for the state. Check that, a very good steward given the external circumstances.

Politically what I don’t see him doing (and freely admit, maybe he is and I’m not paying attention because not paying attention is my specialty) is laying any kind of a ground work to run off some of these absolutely dreadful lefties we have in the state legislature. If he’s a party man, I would think I would be observing that in some way.

Lately he’s compounded my overall aggravation with the constant hectoring of the media, politicians, and celebrities about one thing or another. I never watch television without benefit of the DVR so I can’t tell you precisely what he’s harassing me about, but recently I’ve seen him zip by on the screen with a blood pressure cuff on (I think it is), leaning into the camera probably telling me to go get it checked or something. I think it was a few months ago he was bugging me to get out and take a walk or something. You were elected governor– you’re not my mother! I’m not paying you to badger me about something that’s none of your bloody business so STFU!

But all that aside, there are three things that I think are show stoppers. First, as I said in a comment a few months ago, the man has the charisma of a third-rate undertaker. It’s simply not credible to think that a man with that bad a combover could be elected president. I’m not sure he could inspire me to walk down the driveway to pick up the newspaper never mind drag myself up the road to vote for him. I didn’t vote for him the second time he ran so why would I vote to promote him?

And… file this away in the Promises Waiting to Be Broken drawer … he has said numerous times that two terms as governor were the extent of his political goals.

Third and maybe most potentially disastrous– he worked for Bush in W’s first term. I don’t think it really matters that he didn’t stick around long. What matters is you can attack him with some juicy guilt by association.

One of the most interesting things to be observed in IN politics will be … Sarah Palin’s doing a book signing tonight in Noblesville, IN, a far northern Indianapolis ‘burb. What kind of crowd does she draw? How many are there? Could Mitch draw that kind of crowd anywhere in the state? Uh ….no.

Yes folks, after 150 years of chaos, during which period a person could start a fistfight simply by asking what time it was, Gov. Daniels charged ahead into the Political Valley of Death by proposing that the entire state finally go on Daylight Savings Time. He took the position that it might possibly be better for Indiana businesses if the rest of the country had some idea when they opened and closed. Common sense radicalism in the pursuit of sanity. And he won.

Well, not entirely. The counties in the northwest and southwest corners are still fighting and feuding over whether to be in the central time zone or the eastern time zone, switching alliances like Arlen Specter and/or cheating spouses, but every state needs a bit of mud rasslin’ to keep things interesting.

Just off hand I would guess that of the income tax revenues in Indiana, abotu 80% are rpobably from people earning over 100k, so if you actualyl want to get any more revenue, you are going to target them. It is also a more realistic political sell.

I would be excited to meet him should he come to my home.

Redistricting reform is getting a lot of attention in Indiana. The Secretary of State, who is pushing the hardest for this, has not come out in favor of an independent panel. In fact, I think he prefers to keep it with the general assembly. But that is something that will have to be worked out.

The main idea behind it is to keep districts from looking like abstract art, to keep population equal, and to make district lines coterminous with county and city lines. That way, when you live in a city, you know your rep only represents your city, and not the city 50 miles down the road as well. The reform proposal is much needed and it would do wonders to improving efficiency and fairness in the electoral process.

Even if an independent panel is established, the legislature will have to approve any maps they produce. And the panel would have to follow those strict guidlines of population equality and county/city lines. So, there wouldn’t be much opportunity to politicize it.

www.rethinkingredistricting.org is the website that reform proponents are using to pressure legislators on this topic. It’s an informative and fascinating site that even residents of other states can glean ideas from.

The township argument has been going on for a couple of years. On the one hand, it is the closest government to the people. On the other hand, it is the most fiscally wasteful part of government. Shutting it down, as Daniels and others want, would be a good money saver for the state and help keep property taxes low. It risks making government less responsive to the people. In populated areas of the state, it makes a lot of sense. In rural areas, not as much. On balance I support the proposal, but realize its limits.

As a correction to Erick, the SALES tax is higher than when he took office, but they have limited the property taxes which were becoming onerous and certainly more regressive than the sales taxes. He has also allowed raises in tobacco taxes. Yet on balance he is a lower tax guy.

Above all, he runs the government like a business in a very efficient way. He told us when he got into office that he would try different things. Some would not work. When they didn’t, he will admit it and move onto another solution. The tax proposal was one of those. So was the use of IBM to make one large government agency work better.

Mitch is a refreshing politician and I wish him only the best.

I think its important to remember that he’s an executive politician and was likely working with advisors that were projecting stronger surplus with a short term loss in principle, long term gain… in offering a state surplus…

from the transcript above, his good character sticks out by identifying something that VERY few politicians understand today…

…[I]f you start thinking more about yourself than the people you’re there to serve, the cause you’re there to serve, if you start worrying more about how it’ll look, how it’ll play, than about what’s the next challenge? What’s the next hill? What’s the next battle? What am I going to do for the benefit of the cause I’m a part of? Then you’re not the soldier you used to be. You’re not the soldier you ought to be.

Unfortunately Ace, (and I base my comment on all my time here at RS reading your comments…) I don’t think you’ll ever find a single politician that meets your standards my friend!

Now, it may just so happen that this country will be such a wreck in 4 years that we could run the Republican equivalent of Joe Biden and win in a landslide. In that case, my vote will go with the most staunch conservative we can find.