Indiana's Governor Mitch Daniels: The Public Wants The Republican Party In The Penalty Box. I Agree. Read More.

Daniels expects GOP's recovery in time
Conservatism must reconnect, he says
By Maureen Groppe

WASHINGTON -- Conservatism will become credible again if it's forward-looking, constructive, friendly and connects with the lives of everyday people, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels told a conservative audience yesterday.

But the Republican Party will have to be patient because the public wants it to spend some time in the penalty box, he said.

"Our fellow citizens will eventually say: 'All right, we'll listen. Did you learn anything? Did you hear us? Do you have any new, good ideas for us?' " Daniels said. "And if we do, and we will, I have every confidence that freedom and those who espouse it cannot be kept down for long."

Daniels spoke at forum sponsored in part by the Hudson Institute, a think tank that he used to head.

His talk came amid a recent flurry of national attention for Daniels that has included a profile in the National Review, an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal and his delivery of the weekly radio address for the national Republican Party.

Daniels, however, said he's still shy about telling his party what to do and has "ducked a lot of opportunities to mouth off."

"I don't think I have anything profound to say," he said, "and I'm kind of busy."

Daniels and other conservative leaders and thinkers were asked to talk about how to make conservatism credible again after the Republicans' loss of the White House last year and the Democrats' sweep in 2006, when it didn't lose a single congressional or gubernatorial seat and captured the House and Senate.

Daniels said public views on big government haven't shifted as much as the election returns would suggest.

"People are less likely, not more likely, than ever before to be herded by other omniscient leaders into mass transit, smaller cars, labor unions or homogenized health care," he said.

A starting point for the party's recovery is to present every issue in terms of its implications for future generations, he said, such as the "terrifying" budget deficits facing the country.

"But let's face it," said Daniels, who served as President George W. Bush's first budget director. "As a party, a lot of credibility has been forfeited on that score in recent years, and it won't return overnight."

Daniels said the party should not be how he described his opponents in Indiana: negative, backward-looking, bereft of new ideas. Instead, Republicans should be a "party of purpose."

"We try to never be without an idea on the table," he said of his administration. "We try to never be without a major change under way."

The party must also talk to people as adults, take risks, and feel deeply about average Americans' concerns, hopes, dreams and fears, he said.

Asked about the better-educated and upper-income voters who sided with Barack Obama last year, Daniels said many voted for the Democratic presidential candidate as a "luxury purchase" or "fashion statement."

Obama didn't seem a threat to them economically, and many wanted to express the natural desire for change after a period of poor results and to demonstrate their enthusiasm for a society that could elect an African-American president, he said.

"I'm not sure," Daniels said, "how that holds up over time."