Saturday, January 10, 2009

HPI: Daniels most powerful political figure in Indiana

Not surprising; after all, he's the Governor.

But Howie Politics Indiana, an influential daily political briefing, praises his executive skills and touches on a looming battle that may signal his presidential ambitions.

HPI on Mitch Daniels:

Daniels has been an unrivaled and successful risk taker..... [he] is seeking to restructure local government and education......the state is aggressively preparing to position itself as the best place (with work force, location and tax structure) to have what’s left if the Detroit 3 automakers make their inevitable consolidations here..... The one element to this emerging second term is the governor’s resistance to a Detroit 3 bailout, which is philosophically understandable. What is hard to imagine is the collapse of much of this sector and the impact it would have on 20 percent of the state’s economy directly connected.

(Ea). It's hard to imagine a governor facing a more difficult decision when what's best for the state so obviously contradicts what's best for the country. But Daniels is in his second term and barring Senatorial aspirations, has one more election to win: the Republican presidential nomination. If he did, in fact, oppose such a big-three bailout in the face of popular opinion, he could add a powerfully symbolic, national fight to his already impressive record of executive experience.

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