For Daniels, a year of big challenges & headlines

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - This year has been a challenging one for Mitch Daniels, but he won't label it as the worst in his service as governor. He said the challenges faced in his first year in office were greater.

The budget crisis, a special session of the General Assembly and lots of encouragement to run for president are all part of the governor's experience in 2009.

Mitch Daniels sat down with 24-Hour News 8 political reporter Jim Shella in the library at the governor's residence to give his take on the successes and failures in state government this year.

The special session that lasted until June 29, one day before the expiration of the state budget, burns bright in his memory.

"I had always hoped never to have (a special session)," said Daniels. "They used to be somewhat routine in Indiana and I always took the idea, let's serve our time -- whether it be four or eight years -- and let's get the people's business done on time. This year, it just wasn't possible."

Yet Daniels said every day of extra work saved taxpayers a fortune.

The failure of a new billion dollar welfare privatization plan is also a frustration. A new hybrid program will be rolled out in the new year.

"You know, I have never had a hard time saying 'oops' and I don't understand people who do. One way not to ever make a mistake is not to do much," he said.

Nevertheless, Daniels has emerged a Republican star for finding new ways to deliver government services. Supporters and pundits label him as a presidential possibility in 2012. He said he won't run, but he likes the headlines.

"I love it when Indiana stands apart a little, gets attention. Not only feels good but it might, just might, lead to that next job coming here not somewhere else because we got noticed," said the governor.

The new year will bring new challenges with a deepening budget crisis but Daniels chooses to approach it with optimism.

"We can get through this," he said. "We can protect people against tax increases and we'll expand Indiana's competitive edge over other states even further, which means, to me that's the goal."

Daniels will enter his last two years in office in 2010 but says he's not yet concerned with his legacy.

"You're the guy that writes the history books, I'll leave this to you and it's a long time off," he says.

(Shella wrote the Daniels chapter in the book The Governors of Indiana published by the Indiana Historical Society.)

In the meantime, one of the governor's priorities is the effort to win a Republican majority in the Indiana House of Representatives. Daniels has recruited GOP candidates and is raising money to help them campaign.

He said that if the Republicans win control, he will have a better chance of passing reforms that include local government consolidation.