Daniels struggling at the plate

It was in many ways the best of political times for Mitch Daniels when he was elected governor in 2004.

Not only did he become the first Republican to hold the office in 16 years, Republicans had gained control of the House after eight years of Democratic rule, and the GOP held its decades-long grip on the Senate.

With his party controlling both chambers, Daniels charged ahead with an aggressive agenda that included an overhaul of the state's economic development agency, a grace period for delinquent taxpayers and several pro-business tax incentives. Without a vote to spare, he even won approval for two highly contentious proposals statewide observance of daylight-saving time and a lease of the Indiana Toll Road to a foreign, private venture.

What a difference an election can make.

Daniels began this session with another agenda that many political observers regarded as ambitious. He's not batting zero, but with four weeks left in the session, he is struggling at the plate.

Chances seem good that he will get some form of a phase-in of statewide, full-day kindergarten his top priority next to a two-year, balanced budget. He supports giving local governments more flexibility to raise revenue and reduce reliance on property taxes, and Republicans and Democrats are still working on that.

But he does not have the same political punch he had in 2004 and 2005.

Daylight time and the toll road lease were unpopular with many Hoosiers, and House Democrats made them major issues in the 2006 campaign. Daniels shrugged off the criticism, but Democrats won back the House with a 51-49 majority, and several House Republicans grumbled privately that supporting Daniels on those issues cost them control of the chamber.

Republicans still have a 33-17 majority in the Senate, and versions of two of the governor's top proposals outsourcing the Hoosier Lottery to a private entity and allowing Daniels to have private ventures build tollway bypasses in northwestern and central Indiana have passed the Senate.

But it was clear from the beginning that those plans would face a rough road in the Democrat-controlled House.

House Democrats who have harshly criticized Daniels' efforts to privatize parts of state government frowned on both ideas. The lottery plan has not gotten a hearing in the House, and Democratic House Speaker Patrick Bauer on Friday declared it dead.

A House committee held three public hearings in counties in which the central Indiana bypass would run through, and hundreds of people mostly opponents turned out. The Daniels administration held hearings, too, and more House hearings were planned.

But Daniels recently pulled the plug on his own idea by asking lawmakers to drop it. He said it was perhaps premature, the people had spoken, and he had listened to them. It's something Democrats have accused him of not doing in the past.

Meanwhile, lawmakers are still debating whether Daniels' proposal to increase cigarette taxes to reduce smoking and fund health care initiatives is a good idea. And they have not yet answered his call to restructure the state's property tax system.

Some top Republicans are commending Daniels for pushing big ideas, and giving him kudos for dropping his bypass proposal based on public opinion.

"When the partisans talk about how Governor Daniels doesn't listen, that's the time to cover your ears," said state GOP Chairman Murray Clark. "No governor in our history has listened and responded to what Hoosiers are saying more than Mitch Daniels."

Democrats aren't giving Daniels the same kind of credit.

Longtime Rep. Win Moses, D-Fort Wayne, said Daniels is having difficulty getting some major parts of his agenda through because he is facing a situation unique for him.

He noted that when Daniels was budget director for President Bush after he was elected in 2000, Republicans controlled the White House and both chambers of Congress. Daniels also spent his first two years as governor with GOP control of the General Assembly.

Not anymore.

"Suddenly, he has to reach compromises, and he has not shown himself well able to do that yet," Moses said.

EDITORS: Mike Smith has covered Indiana's Statehouse and political scene since 1993.