Is this the next president of the United States? I've had my eye on him for awhile now, have read a few articles by him, closely watched some interviews with him - he get's my early vote I think. George Will's superb introduction of him at this speech raises the concerns people have: he's short [bad optics compared to Obama] and his persona, his demeanor comes across as a bit too staid, some might even say drab. I don't necessarily see that - true, these are real concerns no matter how trivial they may sound - but I get the feeling his delivery would play well against Obama's - Obama seems too stylized, phony even, and much of the charm of him has worn off for people - in contrast I think Daniels may come off looking and sounding sincere, real, a man of simple integrity. Hard to predict how these characteristics would play out over the long slog of a campaign - does a persons appeal wax or wane the more you hear them? - but my guess is Daniels persona would work well in a town hall like venue, the one on one TV interview setting and probably in the debates - not very well at all before a large crowd or in the heightened atmospherics of a rally.
[although Daniels appeals on business and management related issues, there's little there there when it comes to foreign policy - but of course one can say that about all the potential candidates - even though foreign policy always plays a key but often glossed over [see Obama] role in presidential elections, it's my prediction that the next commander in chief is going to be especially hard put upon is this regard - I worry that the strategic health and relevance of the country could become significantly compromised under the light weight stewardship of another Obama term or a replacement equally not well suited to the discipline - which is why one tends to believe the best candidate is going to be one with executive experience who has demonstrated an ability to make tough decisions and get things done - which pretty much describes Daniels - unfortunately the flawed primary process, where narrow ideological interests on both sides of the aisle often carry far too much influence, a process which almost seems perversely designed to marginalize qualified people like Daniels, will probably disqualify him before he can even start - as one writer commented on National Review website this morning, Daniels speech at CPAC got him so excited about seeing a presidential run by him that it almost guarantees that he won't run - interestingly, in the CPAC straw poll Daniels was nowhere to be seen, but in NRO's own little straw poll, Daniels leads - values voters probably doom a Daniels run just as anti-war uber liberals in the 2008 Dem primary doomed Hillary [although given the way she's performed as SecState that was maybe not such an awful thing]].
