The Governor of Indiana

Mitch Daniels is the current Governor of Indiana, a state that is less than an hour's drive away from my hometown. He is frequently mentioned as a likely candidate for the Republican nominee for President.

To start with, I don't like this guy on principle. He is a union-buster. He supports massive spending cuts as the way to solve all problems. He opposes any increase in property taxes, making up for that with increases in sales tax. He worked in the George W. Bush administration. He denies global warming. He privatized the Indiana Turnpike (selling it to foreign investors). He privatized welfare. I'm not sure, but I think this guy is in favor of replacing the Police with private security firms:

"9-1-1"
"Yes! I need the police! There's a man trying to break into my house! I think he wants to rape and murder me!"
"And will you be paying for this service call with Visa, Mastercard, or American Express?"
"WHAT?! I don't have my wallet! This man is going to kill me!"
"I'm sorry, but without a means of payment, our forces cannot respond at this time. Thank you for calling. Goodbye." (Click)
"Hello? Hello? HELLO?!! HELP M-" (click)

Raise your hand if you think that's a good idea.

And yet, every conservative pundit in the country loves him. He is thought of as an intellectual conservative, something that is about as rare as a ethical politician. This is a man who got a state constitutional amendment adopted that raises sales taxes while reducing property taxes to some of the lowest in the country. In other words, this is a man who raises taxes on the poor and lowers them on the rich--the definition of the typical Republican--all while pretending to be on the side of the common man. And he does this after destroying the one group that was able to oppose him--unions.

And this man, with the massive corporate backing that he will no doubt receive if he becomes the Repuglican candidate for President, will be running for President next year.

And no one cares, because--HEY, LOOK OVER THERE! CHARLIE SHEEN DID SOMETHING WACKY!