Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) said that Republicans haven't done "too darn much" to deserve a favorable midterm election outlook in an interview with Time Magazine published Tuesday.
A new Washington Post/ABC poll finds that the GOP is riding a wave of momentum as time ticks down until voters hit the polls in November. According to the survey, just 34 percent say the majority of Democratic lawmakers in Congress have earned the right to be reelected. And, by a 13-point margin, independent voters indicate they're more likely to support a Republican House candidate over a Democratic contender, the poll shows.
Here's what Daniels told Time's Mark Halperin on what he thinks the GOP has done to facilitate the favorable political landscape:
"Not too darn much. That comes next. I would say this, I think the party, and [Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour's] closer to this, but has recruited some very good people to run in our little corner of the country we worked very hard on this, this is of no interest to folks elsewhere, but we have very high hopes of success in our state that will allow us to move forward. Some reforms have been blocked up to this time by our opponents in the General Assembly. We had great luck getting good people, a lot of first time people to run, which is often a leading indicator of a good year. When folks feel confident enough. So I think maybe the party's done that. Certainly, the gubernatorial candidates, that Haley and others have recruited and the congressional candidates I'm aware of are as good a crop.
But, when it comes to policy, Daniels described the matter as "a blank yet to be filled." He then invoked a baseball analogy to explain his point: "I'd say, 'We Republicans are on second base faster than I thought we'd be, but we didn't hit a double.' You know we got there... on a walk, on a pass ball, or something, the mistakes of the incumbents, of the incumbent party."