“I can’t imagine voting for him.

“But Daniels’s presence would improve the 2012 campaign. He’d make Barack Obama a better candidate…

“He is the un-Trump — indeed, the un-Newt. Bluster and bravado are not words that come to mind when you meet Daniels. Short and balding, he has the air of an accountant at a midsized manufacturing firm…

“[C]andidate Daniels would press President Obama to sharpen his focus on getting the debt under control, and to spell out more clearly how that will be accomplished. He would be an especially worthy opponent — even if I flinch at the thought that he might succeed.”

***
“Now, the reason for this is people in Indiana are very much aware that she does not like politics. She just doesn’t like it, and she has said publicly that she has no desire to be first lady or to do any of the things that that job requires. That’s why people were paying attention last night. In fact, I’ll tell you a little secret. In the past six months, I have met with two or three Republican presidential candidates — some who had not announced at the time, some who had — and I asked them all about Mitch Daniels. All of them (and I’m talking maybe three or four) without exception said, “He’s not gonna run. Wife hates it. Wife hates politics. We’re not worried about Mitch Daniels. All this talk with Daniels? At the end of it, Rush, Daniels isn’t running. Wife won’t let him. Wife doesn’t like it, doesn’t like politics, doesn’t like the campaign trail, doesn’t want any part of it.

“‘I said, ‘Are you sure? Why is he acting like he’s acting? Why flirt with this if it’s so a fait accompli?’

“‘I don’t know, Rush. He’s not running.'”