Like NR’s Mark Hemingway, I’m a slightly fanatical admirer of Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels. In his latest column, Rich Lowry makes an excellent case for Daniels as a role model for 2012 Republicans.

Daniels counsels national Republicans to adopt a “no, but” approach. As he told an interviewer from National Journal, on cap-and-trade he’d say: “No, let’s not double the tax on poor people in the vain hope of moving the world’s thermometer. Here’s a way to conserve energy and protect the environment that doesn’t impoverish the nation.” On health care, he’d say, “Sure, let’s get people covered with health insurance, but here’s a much better way.”

His success has stoked speculation about a possible 2012 presidential run. Daniels has made Shermanesque disavowals of national ambitions, and expressed confidence that new national leaders will soon emerge. When they do, they should heed the lesson and the message of Mitch Daniels, an exemplar of a winning conservatism. 

One thing I find interesting about Daniels is that he was not very effective in the Bush White House, where his deficit-hating impulses were apparently checked by more powerful voices, he’s really come into his own as governor. When he first came into office, he called for a tax hike on the most affluent Indianans. Though the surcharge was never passed, Daniels played against type and demonstrated his seriousness. His foresight has helped Indiana absorb crushing economic blows. The Economist profiled the state last week. After noting Indiana’s relative success in managing the transition away from heavy industry, the piece outlined difficulties ahead:

Lay-offs in manufacturing and construction helped push the unemployment rate from 4.5% in December 2007, the start of the national recession, to 9.9% in April. Northern Indiana has endured the most extreme turn of fate. In parts of this lush country the world’s pace slows to a trot, with horses pulling buggies of men with beards and women with bonnets. But the long arms of the recession touched even the Amish, lured to the local recreational-vehicle (RV) industry by good wages. As the RV industry collapsed Elkhart County’s unemployment rate shot from 4.8% in December 2007 to 16% a year later, a leap so big that Barack Obama went there for his first trip as president. GM’s fall begins a new chapter of uncertainty. One plant in Indianapolis will close. Fort Wayne’s factory is among those that will stay idle for the summer. Small suppliers are likely to suffer most.

Indeed, this was part of Daniels’ case against the 2008 bailout of the Big Three. As he told the Indianapolis Star at the time, “I didn’t notice anyone throwing money at the RV industry, and that cost Indiana a lot of jobs.”

In November, I argued that Daniels was the perfect foil for Obama, and I still believe it. Conservatives are eager to find another Reagan. But what conservatives really need is an unostentatiously smart, accessible tightwad.