Mitch Daniels: I'm Not Running In 2012

With the 2012 election starting to warm up, the Republican field is starting to get smaller and smaller. Haley Barbour, Donald Trump, and Mike Huckabee have all bowed out from the race. Mich Daniels will be among the men who will not run for 2012. Mitch Daniels made his announcement via an e-mail to his supporters: 

The Daniels email, obtained by POLITICO, went out from Indiana GOP chief Eric Holcomb, a key Daniels adviser, soon after midnight, with the word "Urgent" in the subject line.

"The following is from Governor Mitch Daniels…." the email began.

“I hope this reaches you before the public news does," Daniels wrote. "If so, please respect my confidence for the short time until I can make it known to all."

"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."

Daniels, who had deep fundraising ties from his time in the Bush administration and his own years in Washington, went on: "If you feel that this was a non-courageous or unpatriotic decision, I understand and will not attempt to persuade you otherwise. I only hope that you will accept my sincerity in the judgment I reached," he wrote.

"Many thanks for your help and input during this period of reflection. Please stay in touch if you see ways in which an obscure Midwestern governor might make a constructive contribution to the rebuilding of our economy and our Republic.”

The email, which went to a list of supporters but not the Indiana GOP's broader email list, was unusual —pols who bow out of campaigns rarely choose to announce it just after midnight on a Saturday.

Its no surprise that Mitch Daniels would bow out. He's made plenty of public statements that indicated that he wasn't sure if he wanted to run. He stated that he was not ready to debate Obama on foreign policy yet he thought he could beat Barak Obama. He has also stated that he may not run if he couldn't get the Democratic legislature to close the state session of Congress.

Ultimately, Mich's decision to run or not depended his wife. He wanted to run but he was waiting to see if his wife liked the idea of running. However, it was clear that his wife never liked the idea of enduring a grueling presidential campaign and facing the press who want to ask her marriage. In fact, running for president was a very scary idea for her.

With Mitch Daniels out, it will benefit the top tier Republican 2012 canididates: 

Daniels's decision would seem on the surface to benefit Pawlenty in Iowa, where he's looking to come in with solid numbers in the caucuses, and Huntsman in New Hampshire, where the former Utah governor is expected to play hard if he runs. But it also is ultimately positive for Romney, who is increasingly able to cast himself as a stronger frontrunner; his aides recently reported raising $10 million in a single fundraising "call day" from Nevada.

While other candidates might benefit from Mitch's decision not to run, I think it will most likely benefit Mitt Romney. He's the only candidate who is matching Obama in fundraising right now and can make swing states lean towards voting for a Republican challenger to Barak Obama.

However, with Mitch Daniels out, the pressure is on for other candidates to move out from their exploratory committee to becoming official candidates or to announce whether they will run or not. All eyes will be on Sarah Palin. Some people think she will not run in 2012 and there are rumors that she is considering running to become a U.S. Senator.

Look for a wave of announcements from 2012 Republican candidates to come in the next month or so.