While none of the friends blamed Daniels for putting his family first, many saw irony in the situation, even noting that the man derided by some on the religious right for his so-called social issues “truce” proposal was living by the “family values” that conservative voters aspire to…

Having Cheri Daniels keynote the annual spring dinner of the Indiana GOP may have been, according to sources, an effort by her husband to introduce her to the spotlight she’d spurned throughout his two gubernatorial terms.

It was also a move to show her how well-received she would be on the trail.

But it amounted to “a roll of the dice,” the friend surmised, because the governor knew that her moment in the spotlight would also prompt precisely such stories about their marriage.

“I was surprised because I thought she would be able to reconcile it as a one-day story and not see it as that big of a deal,” said the friend. “But she did.”