Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels keeps denying he's interested in a 2012 bid, but Paul Bedard says otherwise.
We hear he's serious about considering a 2012 entry, so much so that he's consulting with some of those who once sat in the White House, like former Vice President Dan Quayle, also a Hoosier.
With that in mind, it's useful to travel back to October 18 when Dan Quayle talked openly about a Daniels bid to the Indianapolis Star.
Quayle:
"If he wants to run for president, he certainly would be great at it. He certainly has a wealth of experience. He's done a tremendous job here in Indiana as governor in a short period of time. He could take that Mitch-mobile, take that thing to Iowa and New Hampshire, who knows? 2012 is going to be wide open.
.... The presidential race is several years away, but he certainly would be fully qualified, very competitive and could possibly be the nominee and give Obama a good run.
But we're way ahead of ourselves. I know he's really focused on what he can do here in Indiana. But he's getting some good notoriety, some good press. I read his articles in the Wall Street Journal. Good work, Mitch."
And as another reminder, I'm reposting a post I wrote on July 8.
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Indiana Democratic Party Chairman, Dan Parker, says Mitch Daniels has at least half-an-eye set on 2012.
"He's [Daniels] probably leaving the door open."
He points to a new site called "Americans for Mitch", which was jump-started by the Hendricks County Republican Party Chairman.
Parker says the site isn't entirely random.
"This is not a grassroots movement. These are people that are connected to him that he could easily tell them to cut it."
Head on over to the site and you'll see a "Join a Coalition" tab, which promises you'll "stay up-to-date on Mitch through "state-based and coalition-based e-newsletters".
Most tellingly, the site features an article titled "The short-list gets shorter" -- a pared down list of possible 2012 candidates, in the wake of Sanford, Ensign, and Palin's troubles (The article links to a Fox News story re: the 2012 race).
Earlier today, we talked about the oddly active nature of Daniels' "My Man Mitch" site -- odd because Daniels has said he won't run for elective office again.
