• Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels (R-IN) has some very devoted followers on RedState. I know this because of the angry knee-jerk responses if red flags are raised about whether or not he is an across-the-board ideological conservative.
• I believe the shockingly early endorsement of John McCain by Mitch Daniels in the last presidential election (before McCain’s own entry into the race) says volumes about the RINO tendencies of Daniels, but this recent response to the exit of Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) raises new concerns.
• The article below deserves a response, so I’ll direct the remainder of my comments to the officeholder himself:

Governor Daniels, I’d like to have an “adult conversation” with you.

1.  It’s not “too bad” that Bayh chose not to run. Your diplomatically worded comments reveal you personally share the mushy mindset of Republicans in Indiana who have voted for Bayh for decades. Bayh’s departure is the very best thing that could have happened.

2.  Bayh is not truly on the outs with his party; don’t help him by promoting that lie. He is instead positioning himself for future power. Are you unable to grasp that concept? Bayh is not a Republican who accidentally put a D next to his name. He is a born-and-bred liberal, Governor. Call him one.

3.  I’m sorry you are so desirous of attention from the Washington press corps (your old beltway buddies) that you could not even bring yourself to simply say that your party’s sensible, logical conservative principles would serve your state and this country better than Bayh and his party, no matter how much the guy lies about “groping for the middle.”

4.  While we’re at it, we don’t need to encourage people to stumble blindly into the quicksand of the middle. We need to define the beauty of conservatism, and help them to move purposefully past the middle to the time-tested, successful right! Reagan knew that. But then, you told us during the last election (when you stumped for your buddy John McCain) that it’s time to let go of the era of Reagan.

5.  Rather than saying goodbye to the legacy of Reagan, I’ll be glad to support your choice to retire. I’d much rather let you and Bayh disappear together into private life, since you both share a sentimentality (with Dick Lugar, another like-minded pal) for the vague, happy bi-partisan land of “something must be done about this.” Governor Daniels, if you can’t once-and-for-all, definitively take raising taxes off the discussion table, what good are you to the conservative movement? You’ve sold yourself as a fiscal conservative, so that’s the very least you should do.

[Copyright infringement redacted - NS]