Mitch Daniels: GOP Savior?

It's perplexing to me. I've thought about this ever since Mona Charen gave Daniels a shout out at the Jewish Policy Center panel last September. I can't say yet either way. Daniels delivered an opening keynote speech at CPAC. I didn't pay all that much attention, but he's a former White House budget director and he puts a Cold War gravity on our our current fiscal crisis. Here's a clip below (and the full video is here and transcript here):

And see Politico, "GOP elite see Mitch Daniels as 2012 savior" (at Memeorandum):

Republicans say that barring an addition to the field, the fight in coming weeks will be for the spots as the most viable alternative to front-running Romney. The former Massachusetts governor is expected to far surpass his rivals in fundraising and has a vast political machine left from his previous run.

Romney’s support remains lukewarm. “People say, ‘I wrote him a check, but I’m not going to kill myself for him, like I did last time,’” a well-connected Republican said. “If you listen long enough, to enough people, you pick that up a lot.”

So insiders are closely watching a Pawlenty vs. Huntsman subrace, to see who else might show staying power.

There is one other scenario, and it terrifies Washington Republicans. That is the possibility that some very conservative, insurgent candidate will become the Romney alternative: former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum or former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, if she defies conventional wisdom and winds up going for it.

“Republicans could have the situation that Democrats did in 1972, when the base of the party was so far outside the mainstream,” said one top Republican. Back then, George McGovern was the Democratic nominee and lost 49 states to President Richard Nixon.