Posted on 12/11/2010 7:44:50 AM PST by TitansAFC
He was talking specifically about a bill pending in the Indiana state legislature, not proposing a new federal “truce” on social issues, but even so, this guy must understand that he’s under a microscope now that he’s being touted as a presidential contender, right? Every utterance is significant, and he’s already got not one but two strikes against him. Is he trying to scare social cons? I can kinda sorta understand that as a primary strategy, if you think there are enough centrist Republicans out there (or at least, anti-social-con Republicans) to push you through to the nomination, but you need to retain some basic goodwill among the base for the general election. Animosity towards Obama will get most of them to turn out for the GOP nominee no matter who it is, but the more he keeps jabbing this way, the more defectors there’ll be. Especially if Christian conservative leaders start raising alarms about him.
Seriously, what is he doing here? Is this evidence that he’s not running after all?
He told 6 News in Indianapolis that conservatives in the state legislature can move forward with pro-life legislation so long as it doesn’t distract from the economic and education-related legislation he prefers to push.
“As long as it doesn’t get in the way of the really crucial (objectives) — keeping Indiana in the black, improving our economy and bringing big reform to things like education. As long as it doesn’t get in the way of that, there’s plenty of time and capacity,” Daniels said. Daniels also told 6News that his call for a truce was not aimed at the Indiana state legislature, but Congress. “I was answering questions about the nation’s situation, which I think is very grave in terms of our economic and financial future. I said the priorities ought to be there,” Daniels added.
This reminds me of DeMint off-handedly saying that you can’t be a fiscal conservative without being a social conservative. It’s sloppy insofar as it’s guaranteed to alienate a core constituency who hears it, but DeMint can be excused because he (probably) isn’t running for president and, even though he’s pandering, he’s at least pandering to a group that’s crucial to GOP turnout, fundraising, and GOTV. Daniels seems either to be calculating that he can galvanize centrists to the point where they’ll make up for any loss of social cons, or he’s simply so poor a retail politician that he can’t avoid stepping on landmines that other candidates have little trouble navigating. That should be troubling even to non-social-cons (like me), since it raises the possibility of Daniels making some sort of destructive gaffe in the middle of the general campaign. Which, ironically for a candidate whom many are touting as the anti-Palin, means he potentially shares a weakness with her — namely, the perception that he might ultimately be unelectable.
Exit question: Remind me again why conservative voters should prefer Daniels to Mike Pence? Daniels has executive experience and is regarded as wonkier than Pence is, but Pence is well respected by both sides of the conservative
Sorry to get in the way, Mitch!
Mitch Daniels was scratched from my list the minute I heard this!
It all starts with LIFE. It is simply foundational to conservatism and the republic. Mitch, we don't want you to 'get in the way' in 2012.
Mitch Daniels was scratched from my list the minute I heard this!______________________________________________________
Me too. Permanently. Regardless of limitless backtracking. Fried, cooked, done. Buried.
Innocent life is meaningless in this age, even on our side, as this stupid remark attests, unless these guys use it as a bone to toss to the life crowd. Terribly sad commentary on the state of our country in its demise.
Depends on how you want to spin it. I want elected officials doing what they need to in order to scale back government, improve economic conditions and stop bankrupting the country. You can feel free to continue to sit in a burning house but the reality is that if this economic crisis isn’t dealt with and fast the resulting collapse in society will bring about a whole lot of destruction and result in a lot preventable deaths.
They look at him as "unfair competition" so they'll do anything to discredit him.
So far I haven't heard Mitch say we should give up being pro-life.
Frankly, until we get the USSC turned around (and that may require a DIFFERENT PRESIDENT as well) there's little that can be done with legislative initiatives. Under present conditions you'd make more headway by simply shooting pro-abortion types. At least you'd shut them up for a while. But as far as changing the legal basis for the abomination we still need to get Democrats out of office, and prohibit any new ones from getting elected.
A major cause of the economic crisis is the collapse of the family, which left a vacuum Big Government has been only too eager to fill. Social issues, economic issues, and the crisis in governance in this country are intimately related; you can’t just peel one off and treat it as if it had nothing to do with the others. That’s exactly what the Dems do when they call for souped-up public schools to “educate” kids who are basically raising themselves. All the government money on earth can’t make up for the absence of what was once considered normal family life, with moral standards like deferring gratification in favor of long-term goods.
Usually, when pols make comments like this....they do not support the position in the first place. Daniels is more likely pro-abort than pro-life.
Daniels squishiness on the issue means he has no chance to win GOP nomination
Mitch Daniels potential GOP POTUS candidacy is now DOA.
I can cut him some slack, here. The abortion debate has been going on for decades, and the courts have set up all sorts of constraints, hither and yon. The entire legislature could spend all its time on the subject, yet achieve little, while at the same time the whole State could crash.
That is, fiddling while Indiana burns.
Importantly, he didn’t call for a halt on the subject, just that it shouldn’t get in the way of immediate and critical legislative actions.
So this should be a signal to the advocates of pro-life legislation that they need to change their *tactics*, to get the most out of the situation. Not a setback, just a different strategy.
The way to do this is (using a football analogy), not to go for a Hail Mary pass with every play, but to go for a methodical approach, grinding down the field, winning the game yards at a time.
In practical terms this means to focus on attaching riders to other bills that advance the pro-life agenda. This can accomplish a lot more that a big win-lose effort. And such gradualism is much harder to challenge in court.
The hardest part is to focus on advancing the pro-life agenda, not on emotional gratification, because it is far better to get results than just an emotional rush.
Mitch Daniels on Abortion
No stem-cell research; private funds ok for adult stem cells. (Nov 2008)
Legal abortion for rape, incest, or medical danger. (Nov 2008)
How about pro-freeway legislation? Never mind, he sold his toll road to a foreign company, to have the right of unlimited tolling with monopoly protection.
Nice job Mitch.
Mitch Daniels was scratched from my list a couple years ago when he said that we Republicans need to get over Reagan.
Somewhere along the way, Daniels lost his way. I wrote him off a year or more ago, as he showed he into the politics of appeasement back then. When one loses their equilibrium on social issues, they become compromised on everything else, including economic and budgetary matters.
And as we've come to know, "medical danger" is an open door to any reason to kill the unborn.
Exactly right. All of it translates as a Pro-choice/Pro abortion position.
Right now, deficits, financial stability, and big government are the main domestic issues. Obviously, pro-life still matters but outside of judicial appoitments, there is little an elected official can do.
And also inside of judicial appointments. Does anyone really still believe Roe will be overturned? Dream on.
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