Presidential races

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R), a potential 2012 presidential candidate, said this weekend he has no regrets about expressing his desire for a "truce" on social issues during the next presidency.

Daniels, a noted fiscal hawk, reiterated that social issues are of secondary concern to the country, behind the economy and national security. He first made his comments in June in a profile in the conservative Weekly Standard.

"No," Daniels told the Indianapolis Star in an interview when asked if he has changed his mind. "I say that with enormous respect for the people who want to see gay marriage legalized or who have a strong view on some other such question and want to see 'Don't ask, don't tell' go away."

The Indiana governor took flak from some social-conservative groups, and some observers predicted that his comments could hurt him if he decides to run for president. 

But Daniels said those people might think differently if an enemy army threatened to invade the U.S.

"If there were a foreign army massed at our border right now, I think most Americans would rush to do what they could to help defend the country and they'd find themselves figuratively in the trench next to people that are very different from them and that held different views," he explained. "If the threat were defeated, we might go right back to our disagreements. That's all I'm saying."

Daniels — who served as budget director under President George W. Bush — has said he will not decide to enter the race until April and recently said that other potential candidates' stance on the national debt could sway his decision.

He said that, although he wished for an end to the conflict over social issues, he respects people who disagree with him.

"Believe me, I completely respect, in fact I share the depth of feeling on some of these questions with some people," he said. "I'm just looking at, Shouldn't we save America first, while there's time?"

H/t GOP12

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) said a lot remains unclear about the stable of potential GOP candidates facing President Obama.

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Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Newt Gingrich have taken early steps to address those voters’ concerns.

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President Obama isn't the only politician vacationing in Hawaii this Christmas.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R), a possible 2012 rival for the president, is also spending the holidays in the Aloha State.

Romney and his wife, Ann, are on a two-week break with their five sons, five daughters-in-law and 15 grandchildren, according to the Boston Globe.

The Romney clan is on Maui while Obama heads to Oahu on Wednesday night to catch up with his wife and daughters, who left on Saturday.

In 2007, Romney used a holiday trip to Utah to speak with his family about a 2008 presidential candidacy; a Romney spokesman tells the Globe that "there will likely be family discussions this year, but Romney will not announce whether he'll run again until the spring."

Despite lukewarm approval ratings for President Obama in the battleground state of Florida, new numbers out Wednesday show Obama leading all of the rumored field of 2012 Republican hopefuls in the state.  

Obama easily bests former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin — 52 percent to 38 percent — and leads former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee by five points, according to Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling. 

The president's approval rating in Florida is upside-down, with 49 percent disapproving of his performance, compared to just 45 percent of voters who approve. Among Democrats, Obama's approval stands at just 69 percent. 

The only rumored 2012 contender on the Republican side with positive approval numbers in the state is former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. The Republican also comes closest to Obama in a hypothetical general-election match-up in the state. Obama leads Romney 46 percent to 44 percent.

White House senior adviser David Axelrod expressed confidence Monday that President Obama would be able to swat away a potential primary challenger in 2012.

Axelrod — who will return to Chicago early next year to help coordinate Obama's reelection campaign — told Newsweek that the president's support among rank-and-file Democrats remains high despite several clashes the White House has had with the liberal base.

"We’ll see what happens as time rolls on," Axelrod said when asked about the possibility of a primary. "There may be segments of our party that are unhappy about various things, but rank-and-file Democrats support this president. And rank-and-file Democrats are going to make the decision in 2012."

Axelrod's comments show that Obama's team is at least preparing for the possibility of a primary challenge from a disgruntled Democrat.

Liberals have criticized the White House for allowing Congress to eliminate the public health insurance option from their sweeping reform law and for pushing a tax compromise that extends all the Bush tax cuts for two years, including those for the wealthy, sparking talk that a liberal politician could challenge the president in 2012.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs in August encapsulated the frustration the administration sometimes feels with its supporters when he lashed out against the "professional left." And during a press conference defending the tax deal this month, the president slammed his liberal critics for being "sanctimonious" in their opposition to the tax deal.

But so far, politicians who could challenge Obama have not taken the bait. Liberal Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), who was defeated in November, and Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) have both said they will not run against Obama, as have consumer advocate Ralph Nader and former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean.

Centrist Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), who has criticized the Obama White House, has also ruled out a run for president in 2012.

In fact, one of the only people to say he is contemplating a campaign against Obama is former Sen. Mike Gravel (D-Alaska), a long-shot candidate who ran in 2008.

Axelrod said that polling bolsters his confidence in Obama's chances of surviving a potential primary challenge.

"There was a public poll out recently that said the president had an 80 percent approval rating among Democrats and virtually no negatives," he said. "That’s a pretty good place to start your reelection campaign."

Retiring Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) said Monday he has no plans to re-enter politics in any capacity in the short term.

The second-term senator and son of former Sen. Birch Bayh (D-Ind.) said he plans to work in the private sector "for a few years."

"I don't have political plans right now. I'm looking forward to being in the private sector for a few years," he said at a South Bend farewell tour event, according to WNDU-TV. "I'm looking forward to making sure my kids graduate from high school well, and is [sic] suspect I’ll look to re-enter public service in some capacity, but there are a lot of ways to do that other than running for political office."

Bayh earlier this month ruled out a run for his former post as governor, a move many expected him to make following his decision to retire in February. The centrist has also swatted away talk that he could launch a primary challenge to President Obama in 2012. 

But Bayh's remarks give more clarity to the plans of the 55-year-old official, whom many believe could still make a political comeback. The senator would not rule out a future run for public office in a separate interview with the Indianapolis Star on Monday.

"Somewhere between infinity and zero. How's that for keeping my options open?" Bayh said after being asked about the changes of him running for office sometime in the next decade.

"Look, obviously the fact that I chose not to run for re-election makes that less likely. But look at our senator-elect: After 12 years in the private sector, he decided to come back and run. ... That's a long way of saying, I don't know. It is known to happen," he added. "But I don't know what kind of possibility to attach to that."

He also said a run for president down the road is highly unlikely.

"It was possible at one point that the stars might align in the right way. But they didn't," he said. "And I think it's better to be realistic. There are people who just feel they can't go to their graves contented unless they've run for president. I'm not one of those people."

Bayh said he is not "planning" on becoming a lobbyist after he is legally permitted to do so and also said he has not decided what to do with the $11 million left in his campaign war chest.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour says he doesn't remember the Civil Rights era being "that bad," citing his attendance at a Martin Luther King Jr. rally nearly 50 years ago.

"I just don’t remember it as being that bad," Barbour (R), 63, told the conservative Weekly Standard, which did a lengthy profile on the governor. "I remember Martin Luther King came to town, in ’62. He spoke out at the old fairground and it was full of people, black and white."

Barbour, who has been mentioned as a potential 2012 presidential candidate, was widely praised for his term as chairman of the Republican Governors Association this past election cycle. The GOP picked up six governors seats and, with them, the control of the majority of the country's governors mansions. The former Republican National Committee chairman was also praised for his fundraising prowess.

Democratic National Committee spokesman Haru Sevugan said that comment disqualifies Barbour from running for president.

"Re Barbour's 'not that bad' comment: He’s not ready for prime time or not ready for the 21st century - either way it’s disqualifying," Sevugan posted on his Twitter account.

Barbour's hometown of Yazoo City, Miss., is described in the profile of Barbour as a place that escaped some of the violence seen in other places during the Civil Rights Movement.

“It was quite apparent that Yazoo City had indeed integrated its schools calmly and deliberately," reads a passage cited from a book about the city.

Barbour told the Weekly Standard that he attended a Yazoo City rally headlined by King in 1962 with some of his friends, when he was in high school. 

Barbour said they wanted to hear King speak, but he could not recall what the reverend said.

“I don’t really remember. The truth is, we couldn’t hear very well. We were sort of out there on the periphery," he said. "We just sat on our cars, watching the girls, talking, doing what boys do.

"We paid more attention to the girls than to King," he added.

— This post was updated at 11:53 a.m. and at 3:50 p.m.

Republican lawmakers in Iowa have launched an effort to impeach four state supreme court justices over their decision to strike down a ban on gay marriage in the state last year. 

The new effort comes just as the 2012 GOP presidential primary heats up and the two are sure to intersect. Iowa conservatives, led by former gubernatorial contender Bob Vander Plaats, will likely pressure GOP hopefuls to weigh in. 

Just last month, Vander Plaats led a successful effort to oust three other justices over the gay marriage issue in retention elections. Several 2012 GOP hopefuls voiced support for that effort. 

Now, the same core of lawmakers and activists are targeting the remaining four judges. 

Vander Plaats, who chaired former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's winning Iowa effort in 2008, recently formed a new social conservative organization with the goal of promoting conservative causes and playing a major role in the 2012 caucuses. He recently told The Ballot Box that his group will endorse before the caucus. 

"Our base of support largely consists of pro-family conservatives and we want to make sure we see these candidates up close and hear them first-hand," he said.

According to the AP, it would take just a majority vote in the Republican-led state legislature to approve impeachment, but a two-thirds vote in the state Senate, which is controlled by Democrats.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) said Friday that he wished he had run for a third term as governor.

Pawlenty, the outgoing GOP governor and a possible candidate for president in 2012, said that if he had known that Republican candidate Tom Emmer would lose the race to succeed him, he might have opted to pursue a third term.

"Yes,” Pawlenty told the Duluth News-Tribune when asked if he wished he'd run again. The newspaper described the Republican governor's answer as coming without hesitation.

"If I would have known then what I know now," Pawlenty said, he might have run again. "Hindsight is 20/20.”

The governor's comments are head-turning for someone who's widely considered to be an eventual candidate for higher office.

Emmer lost in a closely contested gubernatorial election to former Sen. Mark Dayton (D). Pawlenty had campaigned hard on Emmer's behalf, despite the occasional report of behind-the-scenes friction between the two Republicans.