Mitch Daniels defended himself for saying he’s “probably not” ready to debate President Barack Obama on foreign policy, insisting there’s “no need for me to shoot my mouth off” until he is on solid footing as a candidate…

“It’s a candid statement…Indiana doesn’t have a foreign policy,” he said, according to a transcript of the interview. “I was answering a direct question with a direct answer, that there are a lot of these issues. If I became a candidate, I would spend a lot of time very promptly and be ready in plenty of time. But I think there’s no need for me to shoot my mouth off until I’m pretty confident I know what I think.”