New York Times columnist Ross Douthat has a great piece this morning on Mitch that captures the most compelling achievements of the governor’s time in office, and sets him apart in a field of familiar faces.

Set a group of plugged-in conservatives to talking presidential politics, and you’ll get the same complaints about the 2012 field.

Mitt Romney? He couldn’t make the voters like him last time … Sarah Palin? She’d lose 47 states … Mike Huckabee? Better as a talk-show host … Tim Pawlenty, Jim DeMint, Bobby Jindal, David Petraeus? Too blah, too extreme, too green, and stop dreaming …

But murmur the name Mitch Daniels, and everyone perks up a bit. Would he win? Maybe not. But he’d be the best president of any of them … New York Times