Former two-term Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels may be considered the reluctant presidential hopeful. Regardless of continuous calls for a Mitch Daniels 2016 run, the current Purdue University president has not indicated an interest.
The disinterest in a Mitch Daniels 2016 campaign dates back at least to the 2012 presidential election cycle, when he clearly cited concerns for privacy and loss of freedom for his wife and four daughters if he pursued the presidency.
Yet just last year, in January 2014, Daniels was listed among 32 potential candidates in an email sent by the Republican National Committee to the party’s subscribers. The GOP leadership still maintains hope for a Mitch Daniels 2016 run among a very crowded field.
Urgent: Do You Support Mitch Daniels for the GOP Nomination? Vote Here Now
It’s as if Republican Party leadership ignores how Daniels riled conservatives by calling for a truce on social issues, saying “We’re going to just have to agree to get along for a little while”; or Daniels’ own apprehension to impact his family with the negatives and nastiness that go along with seeking the nomination in your own party.
Political commentators since the early 2012 election cycle have continued to offer insight into a candidacy that could be backed strongly by Daniels’ firm record in cleaning up the state of Indiana’s fiscal woes.
Here are what a handful of leading pundits have said about Daniels, his positions or potential to become a factor with a Mitch Daniels 2016 run for the White House.
1. MSNBC political reporter Benjy Sarlin, wrote in November 2013: “Daniels may not have been the strongest candidate had he run in 2012 — he’s not exactly known to set crowds on fire — but he was an important symbolic figure for many Republicans who feared the party was ceding its brand to more divisive firebrands."
“At the very least, nothing about Daniels’ rhetoric suggests his nonpartisan Ivory Tower role is a permanent condition. Expect to hear more from him as the presidential primaries draw closer,” wrote Sarlin.
Vote Now: Which Potential GOP Candidate Would You Support in 2016?
2. Longtime Washington Post columnist George Will wrote in February 2011: “Big changes, Daniels knows, will require a broad majority, perhaps one assembled after 2012 by someone with his blend of accomplishments, aversion to pandering and low-key charisma of competence.”
3. In April 2011, chief correspondent Dan Balz for The Washington Post: “No prospective Republican presidential candidate has done more to highlight the issue of debt and deficits than Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels. He calls it the "'New Red Menace,' an ocean of red ink that he says is every bit as dangerous as the Soviet nuclear threat during the Cold War.”
4. Kavon W. Nikrad wrote on Race42016.com in November 2014: “I would still support Daniels in a heartbeat, but he seems perfectly happy at Purdue, and getting him to change his mind about subjecting his family to the ugliness that American politics has become is about as likely as the Romney and Palin supporters of R4’12 organizing a ‘Draft Bob Hovic’ movement.”
5. John Guardiano, via The Daily Caller in May 2011, wrote: “Daniels has expressed a disconcerting indifference to matters that extend beyond fiscal and economic policy. Then there’s his call for a “truce” (read: surrender) in the culture war.”
Urgent: Who Should the GOP Nominate in 2016? Vote Here Now
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.