Students for Daniels: A Movement Without a Candidate
about the author
Jordan J. Frasier is a staff writer for NextGen Journal. He’s a senior at George Mason University studying political science and journalism. Jordan is a news editor for Connect2mason.com and is a network news intern in Washington D.C. Connect with him on twitter @jordanjfrasier and at jordanjfrasier.com.
According to an email sent to supporters early Sunday morning, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels will not run for the presidency in 2012. Daniels explained that the decision came down to his family’s reluctance to join a national campaign, despite a growing “Draft Daniels” effort on nearly 70 college campuses nationwide.
Students from California to the Hoosier state had formed a netroots organization to encourage a Daniels candidacy through The Student Initiative to Draft Daniels, a student-driven political action committee based at studentsfordaniels.com. The group maintained Daniels would be the best candidate to bridge polarizing political dialogue in 2012 and move toward productive discussions about the future.
Prior to Daniels’ announcement, the student organization was working to raise the governor’s public profile by maintaining an Internet campaign and connecting that online effort to outreach on campuses through chapter organizations. All the while, the group worked to raise funds and further their encouragement of Daniels through the collection of signatures.
Dan Horning was the chairman of the George Washington University chapter of Students for Daniels and oversaw a visit from the governor earlier this month, where GWU students asked about entitlement reform, the national debt and Daniels’ time in Indiana. Horning said Daniels spoke one-on-one with students in the meeting room, where some college Democrats were even impressed at how relatable the governor seemed.
“They’ve never really heard of Mitch Daniels and they’d come out to see what all the buzz was about and they really like the guy,” Horning said.
At GWU the Students for Daniels effort had six core members, and Horning saw the effort grow as more students joined the GWU Daniels Facebook page. So when Horning saw an email from Daniels in his inbox at one a.m. on Sunday, he thought it would be the moment he and his group had been waiting for: an announcement that Daniels would jump into the 2012 race. Yet Horning quickly understood that the message announced just the opposite.
“It speaks volumes to Daniels’ character that he put his family before politics,” Horning said about Daniels’ decision.
Daniels’ support from college students–and even from former President George W. Bush–wasn’t enough to drown out the family issues a campaign would have scrutinized. It has been widely reported that Daniel’s wife, Cheri, left her husband and daughters in 1994 to marry a former flame in California, only to return to Daniels in 1997. That chapter of Daniels’ family history gave only a glimpse at the harsh media inquiries a campaign would have brought with it. A desire to avoid that intense spotlight prompted Daniels’ wife and daughters to pull the plug on his potential candidacy.
In his email, Daniels said:
“The counsel and encouragement I received from important citizens like you caused me to think very deeply about becoming a national candidate. In the end, I was able to resolve every competing consideration but one, but that, the interests and wishes of my family, is the most important consideration of all. If I have disappointed you, I will always be sorry.”
That realization put an abrupt end to the cause of Students for Daniels, but most of the students working toward a Daniels candidacy seem to accept his desire to stay out of the race.
“The governor’s better angels had the last word,” said Students for Daniels National Director Max Eden. “He, as any good man must, put his family first. We are frustrated, but not at him.”
Daniels’ attention to issues of our generation ran as a common theme among the students who supported him. Eden expressed frustration that Daniels’ departure from a potential 2012 candidacy might mean major issues for today’s college students, like the national debt, might not be properly addressed in 2012.
“[Students] resent the statesmen who keep passing the buck, unwilling to make principled, unpopular choices that will alleviate the deficit crisis,” said Kate Havard, the capital region chair for Students for Daniels.
For Michael Cross, who heads the Students for Daniels chapter at Purdue University, Daniels’ move comes as an extreme disappointment, but it does not change the admiration students in Indiana have for the governor.
“Daniels’ work in Indiana will have a lasting impact on the state for generations and his fiscal responsibility and policies should set an example for the country,” Cross said.
At GWU, Horning isn’t sure whom he’ll support in 2012 now that Daniels is out, but he’s certain he will not sit this election out. Right now Horning is taking time to digest the Daniels news, but he expects to start watching Mitt Romney, Jon Huntsman and Tim Pawlenty soon.
“These candidates know that young people, while they might seem apathetic, those who really care can bring an important level of energy and compassion to a campaign,” Horning remarked.
That’s a reality echoed by Havard too.
“We’re considering all our options right now.” she said. “We’re a thriving, national network of young people yearning for solvency, and it seems like a shame to disperse when there’s so much left to be done and so much we can do.”
