Politico‘s Jonathan Martin takes a look at Indiana governor Mitch Daniels’s preparations for a 2012 presidential run. Namely, he’s hosting dinners for Republican donors and businessmen at the governor’s mansion. It doesn’t take long for Martin to turn to the big problem with a potential Daniels candidacy: his apparent boringness.
One attendee, who has spoken with fellow Republicans who’ve attended the dinners, offered an assessment echoed by others: “Everybody was impressed with his policy knowledge, but does he have the fire in the belly?”
This Republican, who arrived in Indiana with high hopes about Daniels, worried that the Hoosier may not fit the political moment.
“He’s not particularly angry nor is he particularly passionate so you just come away wondering is this what the mood of country is going to be ready for – a Dukakis technocrat?” said the attendee. “You don’t get the sense he’s going to ride his Harley onto the Capitol steps.”
Still, this Republican quickly added: “But he’s so smart.”
[Former Rep. George] Nethercutt, who said he’d support Daniels if he ran, acknowledged the knock on the balding, diminutive governor but said America needed a sober adult.