With the first 2012 GOP debate set to take place Thursday night, much of the talk involves the candidates who will not be attending. One of the candidates who is generating a lot of speculation as a possible presidential candidate is Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels.
RollCall’s Shira Toeplitz recently authored a terrific profile of the possible candidate — and on Tuesday, she and I discussed the profile — including discussing how Daniels’ status as a former staffer and political operative might impact his chances.
ABC News reported today that Daniels “said on Wednesday that it is not too late for him to jump into the Republican presidential nominating contest, and even called the late start to the campaign a blessing’.”
But according to Toeplitz: “… it has to be fairly soon. I would put [the amount of time he has to decide at] six weeks max,” Toeplitz told me.
“The last thing Mitch Daniels wants to do,” she said (recalling the 2008 race), “is follow in that path of Fred Thompson.”
You can listen to our full conversation here. Or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.