Daniels is hardly the first presidential prospect to be greeted with bouquets from the cognoscenti as the Last Honest Man in politics. There is a long, bipartisan tradition of White House aspirants who play the truth-teller role and they almost invariably receive better reviews in print than at the polls…

Just as the subtext of much of the commentary on then-Senator Obama in 2007 was that he represented a break from Clintonism and Baby Boomer narcissism, the delight with Daniels is also laced with an implicit hope that here could be the antidote to the Palin wing of the GOP…

“I do like Daniels, and I think that Americans often vote for the opposite of what has disappointed them,” said conservative columnist George Will on ABC’s “This Week” last Sunday. “If they’re disappointed with Mr. Obama, then a short, balding, unimpressive, uncharismatic, competent governor might be just the key.”

Daniels might just as well be described as the anti-Palin.