Doctor, Patient and Politician

By GAIL COLLINS
NYT

Let us stop for a minute to consider Mitch Daniels, the governor of Indiana.

Bet you didn’t see that one coming.

Many of you may be unacquainted with Daniels. After all, a lot of Americans go for years on end without ever setting foot in Indiana even though it is a fine state, full of lovely people and some first-class universities, not to mention the RV Hall of Fame, the world’s largest ball of paint and the Dan Quayle museum.

But about Mitch Daniels. The political world has been abuzz with speculation that he will run for president. Centrist Republicans loved it when he began urging the party to keep its eye on the deficit-reduction prize and stop obsessing about social issues. “Try to concentrate on making ends meet, which Washington obviously has failed to do for a long time, and have other policy debates in other places if you can,” he advised.

He then went home and announced that he would sign a bill to strip Planned Parenthood of Medicaid financing.

(More here.)