Byron York on Mitch-Mania

In Jewish World Review...

There's been a Mitch Daniels boomlet in Republican political circles lately....why Daniels? And why now?

"It shows you how slim the pickings are...I think you'll see new sprouts flowering up more quickly than you'd expect." Daniels told me Wednesday.

That's probably not what Republican hopefuls like Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Tim Pawlenty, Sarah Palin and others want to hear. But Daniels believes a new crop of potential presidential candidates is on the way — and he insists that he won't be one of them. "I've only ever run for and held one office," says Daniels, who was elected governor in 2004 and re-elected last year. "It's the last one I'm going to hold."

There's no doubt Daniels is an intriguing prospect....Daniels' stock with the national party began rising as the full extent of last November's damage began to sink in....Then came May 10, when Daniels gave the commencement speech at Butler University in Indianapolis. Facing graduates born in the late 1980s, Daniels delivered a roundhouse condemnation of the selfishness of the Baby Boomer generation and a call for today's young people to live more responsibly than their elders...Daniels' words struck the hearts of self-loathing Boomers throughout the conservative commentariat.

...don't be surprised if some Republicans try to talk Mitch Daniels out of his promise.