Mitch Daniels, Former Director of the Office of Management and Budget

And now, many of his fellow Hoosiers have come to know him as the same.

Daniels, 55, took to the road last July in a recreational vehicle outfitted with his signature green round logo with the slogan -- "My Man Mitch." The RV has since been decorated by supporters across Indiana who have signed his mobile campaign headquarters.

"Today we begin a 16-month job interview, asking to be hired as Indiana's next governor. Welcome to my new home and headquarters, a great Indiana-built product," Daniels said in his campaign kick-off speech.

"In the next 100 days, we will travel to all 92 Hoosier counties … searching for ideas about the best ways to rebuild our state, and for the homegrown talent to help us do it."

This may be Daniels' first race, but according to Indiana politics expert Bill Blomquist, an associate professor at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Daniels is running a smart campaign.

"He's been traveling around in short sleeves and khakis eating pork tenderloin -- he 'out-Hoosiers' the competition," Blomquist said of what he calls Daniels' successful attempt at shedding his image as a Washington insider.

Both candidates, according to Daniels, are running a race that says it's time for change. For Daniels, this means time for a Republican after 16 years of Democratic governors in Indiana.
He's a candidate with a substantial amount of Washington experience, despite never having run for office. He worked for Richard Lugar when Lugar was mayor of Indianapolis. Then, when Lugar became a senator, Daniels acted as his chief of staff for eight years.

When Lugar was elected chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Daniels served as its executive director from 1983 to 1984 where he played a major role in the GOP keeping control of the U.S. Senate.
From 1985 to 1987 Daniels served as a senior advisor to former Pres. Ronald Reagan and acted as a liaison between state and local officials. Reagan appointed Daniels as a member of the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations and director of the Overseas Private Investment Corp.

During his stint in the private sector, he returned to Indiana in 1987, when he became chief executive of research at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank. From there, Daniels joined pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly and Co. in 1990. By 1993, he was president of the group's North American pharmaceutical operations. In 1997 he was named senior vice president of corporate strategy and policy at Eli Lilly.

Daniels left his high-ranking job at the pharmaceutical company to serve as President Bush's director of the Office of Management and Budget where the president referred to him as "The Blade."

During his two-and-a-half-year tenure, however, the $236 billion annual surplus became a $400 billion deficit, according to The Indianapolis Star, as the United States struggled through a recession and the economic blow levied by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Not a native Hoosier, Daniels was born in Monongahela, Pa. in 1949. He spent his early childhood in Georgia and moved to Indianapolis in 1959. He was recognized in high school at North Central High School for academic excellence. Daniels entered Princeton in 1967 on scholarships. He received his law degree from Georgetown University in 1979.

In 1970, while attending Princeton, Daniels was arrested for marijuana possession. Daniels admitted to his arrest years earlier, but in August, four Democrats held a press conference on the statehouse steps about the drug use.
Reporters asked the four Democrats if they themselves had smoked marijuana -- two replied yes.

Then, an Associated Press reporter asked Indiana Gov. Joseph Kernan about his own past. His campaign staff said he had used marijuana a few times in his 20s. This admission from Kernan quickly extinguished any uproar about Daniels' already well-known conviction.

While many of his peers were drafted to Vietnam, college students could defer until after graduation. By the time Daniels finished school in 1971, his lottery number -- 147 -- was high enough that he wasn't drafted, The Indianapolis Star reported.

Kernan is married to Cheri Lynn Herman Daniels and the couple has four daughters - Megan, Melissa, Meredith and Margaret.

Governor Candidates Talk Issues
June 18, 2004
Windows Media: Indiana Governor Joe Kernan and Republican gubernatorial candidate Mitch Daniels appeared at the Indiana Leadership Summit, organized by the Indiana Humanities Council, to share their visions for the future of the state.
-- WFYI, Indianapolis