The Return of the Mitch?

 

Mitch Daniels
Photo: Purdue University

Purdue President Mitch Daniels has been in the news a lot lately. 

First came the somewhat surprising news that he would be retiring from his post as President of Purdue University. Then, nearly immediately, the speculation began about what the former Indiana Governor and Federal Budget Director under George W. Bush might do in his retirement.

Hint: the speculation is that he's not moving to the Villages in Florida.

Politico's Adam Wren, one of Indiana's finest political reporters, has reported that friends of Daniels say he is "fascinated" by the idea of returning to the Governor's Mansion that he never lived in when he was Governor of Indiana from 2005-2013. Daniels defeated incumbent Governor Joe Kernan in 2004, and he easily won reelection over former U.S. Representative Jill Long Thompson in 2008. The term-limited Daniels left office and quickly was named the President of Purdue University in 2013. Since then, he's been the head Boilermaker.

Wren also floated the possibility on Twitter that some Republicans are trying to convince Daniels to challenge Joe Hogsett for Mayor of Indianapolis in 2023. Hogsett, a former U.S. Attorney, is also a possible Gubernatorial candidate in 2024. Many forget that Hogsett was once Indiana's Secretary of State back in 1989. He won election to his own term by beating Bill Hudnut in 1990. He also lost statewide races in 1994 for U.S. Senate and in 2004 for Attorney General. Hogsett definitely has been around the block a time or two of Indiana's 92 counties and is also a former Indiana Democratic Party Chair.

Whatever Daniels decides to do, it should be an interesting time as the statewide GOP becomes more and more another agent of Donald J. Trump's hostile takeover of the party. Trump loyalist Diego Morales bounced Secretary of State Holli Sullivan at the Republican Convention on Saturday. He'll be their statewide ticket leader in November. The GOP also passed a very far right platform on Saturday signaling the continued movement away from a guy like Daniels and his former Chief of Staff and curent Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb. There's not a guarantee that Daniels, who by most accounts would be far more to the center than to where his party now sits politically, would win a primary against a Trumper like Jim Banks or Mike Braun or Todd Rokita.

Personally, I think Mitch is enjoying the attention having been out of the political spotlight for a while. It must be nice to still be wanted by some in the party. The next few months will reveal much about Daniels' future plans as well as those who might run against him. 

Joe Kernan (1946-2020)

Joe Kernan
Photo: United States Naval Academy

There will never be another Joe Kernan.

Never. 

Indiana's 48th Governor, Kernan passed away today at the age of 74 after a battle with Alzheimer's Disease. The Indy Star's Justin L. Mack reports that there will be no public services due to COVID-19.

Born in Chicago on April 8, 1946, Kernan's father, Joseph E. Kernan, Jr. was a veteran of World War II and worked in government roles and so did Kernan's mother, Marian. The Kernan Family moved to South Bend when Joe was 10. He graduated from St. Joseph's High School in 1964. From there, he matriculated to Notre Dame and graduated four years later with a degree in government.

In 1969, Joe Kernan answered his country's call in Vietnam and joined the Navy. Shot down over North Vietnam in 1972, Lieutenant Kernan became a prisoner of war in Hanoi. For nearly a year, he was imprisoned there. The Indy Star's Jason Kelly wrote this touching piece about Kernan and detailed some of his time as a POW. For his service, Kernan was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross, two Purple Hearts and the Navy Commendation Metal.

Kernan got married to his wife, Maggie, and returned to private life after the military in 1974. In 1980, the became South Bend city controller. He was elected Mayor of South Bend in 1987. Kernan served two terms as the Mayor of South Bend. He was in his third term when asked in 1996 to be Frank O'Bannon's running mate. The O'Bannon/Kernan ticket defeated Stephen Goldsmith and George Witwer in a tight race. He and O'Bannon enjoyed a productive four years in office, and they were reelectd in a landslide in 2000. The great economic conditions from their first term began to slow, and so did the Indiana economy. The state began to struggle. Tragedy then struck.

O'Bannon attended a trade conference in September 2003 in Chicago. On September 8, O'Bannon suffered a massive stroke in Chicago and died five days later. Kernan moved from Lieutenant Governor to Governor and comforted a grieving state through the loss of its popular leader. One of Kernan's first decisions as Governor was to name Kathy Davis as his Lieutenant Governor. Davis became the first woman to serve in that post.

In his short time on the job as Governor, Kernan did his best to help the Indiana economy, and things were beginning to turn around. In his only legislative session with the Indiana General Assembly, he championed educational reforms such as all-day kindergarten that ultimately did not pass.

Initially, Kernan decided not to pursue a term of his own as Indiana's Chief Executive, but he changed his mind and ran into the buzzsaw that was the 2004 election in Indiana. Led by George W. Bush at the top of the ticket, Mitch Daniels was elected Indiana Governor, and Kernan returned to South Bend.

In retirement, he became one of the owners of South Bend's minor league baseball team, and he served with Chief Justice Randall Shepard in authoring the Kernan-Shepard report on how to streamline and reform government in Indiana.

I met Kernan for the first time in 2004. I attended a fundraiser for the Governor's campaign that was geared toward young people. After he arrived, I watched as the Governor worked the room. I lost track of him because I was in conversation with other people at my table.

I felt a tap on my shoulder, and it was the Governor.

"Hi, I'm Joe," he said.

"Of course you are!" I thought.

Joe Kernan embodied humility. He never became filled with the ego and self-importance to which some politicians at his level often fall victim. I talked with him a few more times over the years, and I always found him engaging and giving of his time.

Governor Kernan is survived by Maggie, and his siblings.

According to the Indianapolis Star, you can make memorial contributions to the Veterans Fund at the University of Notre Dame, Kernan's beloved alma mater.

This may be the understatement of the decade, but Indiana will miss Joe Kernan.