Daniels’ speak first, think later style could cost

I found interesting this passage in an AP article by Mike Smith:

On the day that fiscal leaders for House and Senate Republicans struck a deal on a new, two-year state budget, it was obvious that it wasn’t quite good enough for Daniels. His press office issued a brief statement late that day that made little sense, except to suggest that the plan wasn’t quite up to the governor’s standards.

Legislative leaders said later, privately, that they reminded Daniels that he wasn’t the only branch of government. It was a reminder from Republicans in his own party, who work in the legislative branch, that there are no kings of Indiana.

The next day, Daniels was praising the budget as the most responsible state spending plan in a decade.

But he also said that Democrats had shown “zero interest” in budget negotiations, which angered Democrats so much that those in the Senate walked out, and some Democratic votes he was counting on for statewide daylight-saving time in the House were gone.

Daylight time passed, but his comments cost him some Democrat votes, and forced some Republicans in vulnerable districts to vote for the change even though most of their constituents were against it.

Make no mistake. The flip-flops some Republicans made on that issue could cost them their seats and put Democrats back in control of the House.

Daniels acknowledged that in the last days of a legislative session, when emotions are running high, “It’s a good idea not to say very much.”

The next day, Daniels was praising the budget as the most responsible state spending plan in a decade.