Gov. Daniels: 2012 campaign 'about the future'

Gov. Mitch Daniels said he wouldn't campaign on his record as governor of Indiana if he ran for president but would instead focus on "the future."

"I don't think we elect resumes," he told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell on Thursday. "Past records may be of some value just simply for establishing credibility."

Daniels said he was "very proud of things we've gotten done here in Indiana," but that his two terms as governor won't be the issue in 2012.

"Campaigns for public office ought to be about the future, about specific plans to make life better for everyone," he said. "And if I ever did become a candidate again that's the way I'd conduct myself."

Daniels is mulling a bid for the Republican presidential nomination. He told Mitchell he remains focused on the current state legislative session, which must end by April 29.

During the interview, he again urged congressional Republicans to set aside their views on abortion and other social issues in order to effectively tackle fiscal problems related to entitlement programs.

"When we get to .50 caliber issues like that," he said, "at that point, maybe for a little while, we could agree to disagree on other questions. That's really an expression of my sense of the urgency of our debt problem and the economic stagnation that is contributing to it."

He made similar comments during an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday.

Asked by Mitchell whether he thought questions about President Obama's natural born American citizenship were relevant, Daniels didn't hesitate. "I don't," he said.

"The American people that elected President Obama had a chance to weigh it at the time," the governor added. "I have my differences with the president, but they have nothing to do with things like that."