Niki Kelly, writing for the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette has an article on Mitch Daniels tenure so far entitled Daniels hits legislative bumps. She gets the assessment of various legislators as well as a Ball State political science professor of Governor Daniels performance so far.
He is drawing praise for his accessibility and leadership, but being criticized for his inclination to micromanage the General Assembly and not fully understanding the power of his pulpit.
One of his major blunders, according to Rep. Win Moses (D-Fort Wayne), was being out of the state in the final, critical days of the first half of the session. Had he been at work in the State House, he could have brokered a deal and resolved the standoff between House Democrats and House Republicans which ultimately led to the death of over a hundred bills. Then, due to his political inexperience, he regarded the setback not as the bump in the road it was but as “the road caving in” and came unhinged, tagging Democrats with terrorist buzzwords.
On the other hand, Moses gives the Governor praise for “extraordinary leadership” on the Colts stadium issue once legislators and the mayor of Indianapolis seemed backed into their corners. (Of course, Moses’ compliment was decidedly mixed: “I would consider his high point in this session the way he has helped Indianapolis – in his own unique power-grabbing way,†Moses said.)
One of the other main beefs with Daniels are his attempts at power grabs: “That includes trying to procure appointments on local airport boards, taking control of the stadium project from the Indianapolis Capital Improvements Board and asking all boards and commission members to resign.”
The flip-side of that has been an ambition that has generally been regarded as positive even if not always effective. Part of the reason the agenda for changing Indiana’s fiscal structure hasn’t been successful is the entrenched nature of the Senate. The Republican Senate has helped pass budgets for the past 16 years:
No doubt the governor feels very deeply about being an agent of change for Indiana, but he doesn’t understand that our legislature is very well entrenched. We’ve had budgets under Democrats, but all 16 years there was a Republican Senate,†said Ball State University political science professor Raymond Scheele.
“A lot of what he criticizes they helped pass. They’ve got a stake in the current tax structure and the way it is assembled, and the governor is trying to change all that. It is not going to change as rapidly as he thought at first.
Daniels’ accessibility to legislators has also been notable. But, being one of those rare Governors to have the good fortune to have both chambers of the General Assembly controlled by his party, that accessibility hasn’t meant as much as it could because he does not have much incentive to compromise.
The Ball State political science professor, Raymond Scheele, called it a “rocky start” but the Journal Gazette noted Daniels’ 55% approval rating in a recent central Indiana poll.
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