Opinion

Purdue University President Mitch Daniels: The President America Needs?

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Is former Indiana governor and currently Purdue University President Mitch Daniels the president America sorely needs? George Will says absolutely.

The unabashed supporter of Daniels said the latter should have been the candidate of choice especially since he espouses the conservative line of individual hard work to achieve one's goals, Washington Post reported.

In particular, Will compared two commencement speeches made by sitting President Barack Obama to graduating students of Howard University to the one made by Daniels to graduates of Purdue.

According to Will, he was incensed by Obama telling the students that they were able to reach where they are now not only because of hard work but because of luck.

Obama's speech, Will pointed out, indicated the current president's mindset of favoring government intervention to enact changes in society instead of people doing it themselves. He said this way of thinking reflected Obama's famous 2012 campaign statement of "If you've got a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen."

Will then compared the president's speech with the one made by Daniels. In his address, the Purdue University president told the graduates to "tune out" anyone who would say they cannot completely claim credit for their own achievements.

While Daniels did not completely discount the presence of luck in life, he said "common-sense behavior" such as making healthy choices and working hard can do much to "tilt the odds" in their favor.

Ending his analysis, Will said America sorely needs someone like Daniels as president, not a Democratic candidate (Hillary Clinton) who will just follow Obama's way of thinking and a Republican nominee (Donald Trump) who is nothing but a "world-class whiner".

Writer David Bangert revealed that Will in fact endorsed Daniels back in 2012. He said Will believed the Purdue University president-with his experience working as a chief budgeter and federal executive-can bring maturity and practicality to the White House, JConline reported.

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