Is Mitch Running for Veep or What?

The response to the opposition President's State of the Union Address is typically reserved for an up and comer in the opposition party. The Republican Congressional leadership announced Jan. 19 that Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels -- who earlier withdrew from any possible presidential candidacy -- will deliver the Republican's response to President Obama.

The questions are: 1) Is Mitch now running for the Republican Vice Presidential Slot; or 2) Is Mitch running for either Secretary of the Treasury or Secretary of Commerce (in a newly revamped Commerce Department)?

Read the press release below from the Congressional Republications and decide for yourself:

Washington -- House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced today that Governor Mitch Daniels (R-IN) will deliver the Republican Address to the Nation following the President’s State of the Union address on January 24, 2012.

Governor Daniels, now in his eighth and final year as Indiana’s chief executive, has compiled a solid record of effective government and fiscal responsibility, making him well-suited to outline Republicans’ better solutions to the challenges Americans are facing in this struggling economy.

In his 2012 State of the State Address, Gov. Daniels touted a number of his administration’s accomplishments:

• Indiana has a balanced budget and now enjoys the first AAA credit rating in its history.
• According to CEO Magazine’s rankings of the best states to do business, “Indiana jumped to sixth place from 16th in 2010, giving Hoosiers the third-biggest advance in the rankings in a single year.”
• The magazine notes that “while at least 35 states raised taxes during the recession, Indiana cut them.”Indiana has the fewest state employees per capita in the country.
• In a national survey, 77 percent of Hoosiers described their state government as “efficient,” the second-highest rating in the nation.

“Mitch Daniels is a fierce advocate for smaller, less costly, and more accountable government, and has the record to prove it,” Speaker Boehner said. “As governor, he has turned deficits into surplus, reformed government from top to bottom, and created a better environment for private-sector job creation.

"For making tough choices and keeping his promises, Mitch Daniels is the right choice at the right time to deliver the Republican response to President Obama’s address.”

“As Indiana’s governor, Mitch Daniels helped improve his state’s economy by fostering an environment to create jobs. An eloquent spokesman for limited government, Gov. Daniels knows that President Obama’s three-year experiment in big government has made our economy worse and our future more uncertain, and he knows that Americans want a government that’s simpler, streamlined and secure,” said Leader McConnell. “He is a forceful advocate of pro-growth policies like fundamental tax reform, regulatory reform and energy security.

And he is the right choice to explain the challenges we face and to outline a hopeful, common-sense vision for moving America forward by growing the economy, not the national debt.”

“It’s an honor to be asked. I hope to do the assignment justice,” said Governor Daniels. Mitchell E. Daniels Jr. was elected as the 49th Governor of the State of Indiana in 2004, in his first bid for any elected office. He was re-elected in 2008 to a second and final term, receiving more votes than any candidate for any public office in the state’s history.

Daniels earned a bachelor's degree from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University in 1971 and his law degree from Georgetown University in 1979. More information on Governor Daniels can be found at the following link: http://www.in.gov/gov/2635.htm.