With friends like these...
By Steve Benen
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Fri Apr 20, 2012 1:15 PM EDT
 Associated Press
There's been some scuttlebutt about Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) possibly becoming Mitt Romney's running mate. Folks may want to put those rumors on hold for a little while.
Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana endorsed Mitt Romney for president on Wednesday -- then criticized him a day later in an interview with The Indianapolis Star. [...]
"You have to campaign to govern, not just to win," Mr. Daniels told Matthew Tully of The Indianapolis Star. "Spend the precious time and dollars explaining what's at stake and a constructive program to make life better. And as I say, look at everything through the lens of folks who have yet to achieve."
According to Mr. Tully, "after a pause, Daniels added with disappointment, 'Romney doesn't talk that way.' "
Daniels went on to urge Romney to talk with voters "with some specificity" about his agenda, with the implication being that the presumptive Republican nominee has not yet done so thus far.
In the larger context, the fact that Daniels was publicly critical of Romney a day after endorsing him falls into another pattern we've seen: Romney's supporters are less than kind towards their preferred presidential candidate.
Shortly after Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) threw his support to Romney, the senator said, "There are a lot of other people out there that some of us wish had run for president -- but they didn't." Shortly after former NRCC Chairman Tom Davis endorsed Romney, he said on national television, "He may not be Mr. Personality. You know, he's the guy who gives the fireside chat and the fire goes out."
And shortly after Jon Huntsman announced his support for Romney, he argued on MSNBC in support of "some sort of third-party movement or some alternative voice out there that can put forward new ideas."
Can't you just feel the enthusiasm among Romney's highest-profile supporters? |
