Jonah: When I was reporting my story for NR on the Senate race in Indiana (it’s in the current issue), I contacted the office of Mitch Daniels, hoping to do a short “state of the race” phone interview with the governor. Then I learned that Governor Daniels apparently isn’t doing politics these days. Here’s what I reported:
Republican governor Mitch Daniels, admired by many conservatives, has been strangely absent as well. In June, when he agreed to become the next president of Purdue University, he announced that he would not comment on politics during the final six months of his governorship. So the man who may be Indiana’s most popular Republican isn’t helping Mourdock in a race whose result could have large national repercussions.
This is a special circumstance, but here’s one Republican governor who isn’t doing much to help a conservative candidate who is locked in a very close election contest. If Richard Mourdock loses to Democratic congressman Joe Donnelly, it won’t be the fault of Daniels, but Hoosier conservatives will be right to wonder if their governor could have done more.