Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Democrats Can't Stand Attention Daniels Is Getting

When Evan Bayh or Frank O'Bannon won their respective governor's races, Democrats were always quick to tell us that the public liked the job they were doing and thought highly of them as individuals. Bucking a national Democratic tide, Gov. Mitch Daniels wins re-election by a wide margin after tackling more issues in four years than either Bayh or O'Bannon tackled during their respective two terms in office. This has caught the attention of some in the national news media, who are touting Daniels stature in the Republican Party nationally. Those same Democrats who lavished so much praise on Bayh and O'Bannon are having no part of it. To hear these folks describe it, Daniels is not all that:

  • He had a weak opponent with a weak message.
  • He has bad economic policies.
  • He's selling off the state's assets to the highest bidder.
  • His ethics are bad.
  • He only won by a big margin because he got a free pass in this election.

I almost forgot the most important point. Mitch Daniels is boring. How about unattractive? Any takers? Yeah, those guys Bayh and O'Bannon were the real life of the party, weren't they? I understand that Democrats can't be expected to be cheerleaders for Daniels, but at the same time, give the guy his due. He had a lot of big ideas which he pushed these past four years to move this state forward. Not all of this ideas were good or well thought out, but he's forced the state to think about where it's at today and what it needs to do to move it forward. Whether you like him personally or not, I think most Hoosiers decided to give Daniels another four years because, on balance, they believe he is moving the state in the right direction. It probably didn't hurt that the guy has taken the time to meet more Hoosiers in person during his term as governor than any other governor in Indiana history. And given the number of big and controversial issues he tackled compared to his Democratic predecessors, that big re-election win is a pretty ringing endorsement.

3 comments:

Zookeeper29 said...

I work for the State and appreciate the fact that Governor Daniels makes my fellow State workers actually work. My pay has gone up dramatically under Governor Daniels and am proud to have voted for him AGAIN!

Anonymous said...

Democrat Socialist hate anyone who even hints at capping taxes. In their blissninnie wonderland, taxes are the key to moving towards a Borg type country/world (of course a select few elites, themselves, are excluded from having to be equal to everyone else). Anyone who dares threaten to cut off the tax revenue is an enemy to their cause. Maybe we should give them what they want. Maybe Jen won't mind paying $20K/year in property taxes. I mean surely she thinks she should be paying her fair share?

Jon E. Easter said...

I will give Mitch credit. He managed to put lipstick on the pig of the record of higher taxes and the sale of assets to make himself into the candidate of change in a change election.

In the end, folks decided that the economics didn't dictate changing horses midstream. Thus, they sent Mitch back to office overwhelmingly.

Jill Long Thompson was absent from the scene throughout the formative months of the campaign after a hard fight in the primary. Her campaign was dysfunctional and not supported, in my view, at the highest levels of the party due to residual effect from the nasty primary. The Indiana Democratic Party turned over its keys to the Obama folks. The thought, I think, was that Obama's coattails would carry Thompson in.

Turns out...the party targeted the Presidential race, the House race, and the AG race. Two out of three ended up going in their favor. Obama's coattails weren't long enough to even bring JLT close. In the end, the lasting impression of JLT was what folks saw in the debate...and that wasn't a very good impression.

Jill's argument was...vote for me because I won't do what Mitch did. That didn't work.

Election to Mitch.