Updated: President 2012 Video: Mitch Daniels at the Ripon Society – Far From Devastating
*****Update*****
The Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin is no fan of Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, and last night she posted a two-year old video clip of him that she claimed was “devestating.”
What was so awful about it? (…)
Daniels went on to speak about the debt and Obama’s spending binge.
“The American people’s skepticism about debt and deficits I think is at an all time high, not only because of what they’re seeing in the public sector – most states, the federal government – but think about their lives,” he said. “Americans just came through a period where either they or their neighbors, or a business they were involved in, saved too little, borrowed too much, spent too much, didn’t work out too well. That door is about to be thrown wide open by the policies of this administration.”
He was even optimistic about the ability of Republicans to win over the youth vote.
“I just do not see in Americans today, the young people in particular, an embrace of collectivism, of statism,” Daniels said. “Quite the contrary. Almost to a fault, they insist on individual choice and almost limitless freedom. And I don’t think they’re going to be naturally herded together by government however charismatically it is presented. Into unions, or mass transit, or in any other fashion that infringes on what they see as their God-given right to make their own choices.”
Keep in mind that at the time he was making these remarks, there was plenty of reason for GOP pessimism — Obama’s approval rating was still at a resilient 60 percent it was several months before Chris Christie and Bob McDonnell had won their governorships.
Far from being “devastating,” the video actually makes Daniels come across as a mainstream (and prescient) conservative who predicted that the Republican Party could win by emphasizing solutions to real world problems and limited government principles.
Refreshing to see another conservative pundit agreeing with me over Jennifer Rubin’s obvious dislike of Daniels.
Jennifer Rubin over at the Washington Post has the hatchet out yet again for Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels. This time it is over a speech delivered in 2009.
This devastating clip from a Ripon Society speech demonstrates why conservatives mistrust Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels:
Here is the clip which is part two of Daniel’s speech delivered almost two years ago (and note before the 2010 midterm elections when the GOP won back the House):
It is very noteworthy that Jennifer does not date the video or mention the date anywhere in the text of her post. Doesn’t that lead the reader to believe that it was delivered recently?
When Daniels says the GOP should avoid wedge issues, that means the entire debate must conform to what the Democrats will tolerate: The whole concept of a wedge issue should be foreign to us if we really want to come back. That is not what the partys base wants to hear. They want to set the agenda, not capitulate before beginning the bargaining. More than any single issue, it is this attitude that will be an anathema to the Republican primary electorate. Daniels is also, not to be too indelicate, boring.
Well, we all know that Rubin, the former California Labor attorney, turned pundit, is pushing Paul Ryan and Chris Christie to run for the Presidency. But, she shouldn’t let her preferences to cloud or obfuscate Daniel’s record.
Listen to Daniel’s speech – all of it and let me know if this is a “devastating clip?”
Perhaps, I am being “moderate” or naive but I thought one of the first tenants of elected politics is to NOT alienate voters. I think that is what Mitch is saying here. The RIGHT Ideas and issues are what determines your success at the polls.
Since I have run and held office in California and Rubin hasn’t, perhaps Mitch and I understand this just a little more.