NASTY TONE ALREADY SLIPPING INTO '04 GOVERNOR'S RACE

Indiana Democrats have gone from silly to nasty in their attacks against
White House budget director Mitch Daniels.

A headline atop the Indiana Democratic Party's home page (www.indems.org)
on Tuesday declared: "Cantankerous Daniels says he no longer smokes dope."

The crude headline was slapped on an Associated Press profile of Daniels
that was released Aug. 9. The article details Daniels' tussles with
Congress, including battles with free-spending Sens. Robert Byrd and Ted
Stevens. Writer Alan Fram also mentions Daniels' considerable wit and
intelligence. And, in the 20th paragraph of a 26 paragraph article, Fram
notes that Daniels was fined $350 for using marijuana as a student at
Princeton University more than three decades ago.

It's that last bit of history that Indiana Democrats seized upon, with a
twist on the old "Do you still beat your wife?" type of shamefulness.

It's not Democrats' first broadside against Daniels, only the most outrageous.

Earlier this week, state Democratic Party Chairman Peter Manous accused
Daniels of "reaping huge profits at the expense of workers" for selling his
shares of IPALCO stock in January 2001.

Daniels unloaded the stock, along with shares he owned in other companies,
when President Bush appointed him as budget director. He did so, he says,
to comply with federal ethics rules.

It's worth noting that Daniels, who served on IPALCO's board, was not named
in the lawsuit filed by former employees against other company directors
and executives. The employees accuse corporate officers of dumping the
stock before its value crashed after a merger with AES.

Nonetheless, Manous wants Daniels to set up a charity for IPALCO employees
using the $552,540 in profits he made from the stock sale. Never mind that
Daniels and his family already have established a charitable trust. Never
mind that Daniels has long donated to many central Indiana organizations,
including the Oaks Academy in inner- city Indianapolis.

Manous' declarations about Daniels' stock transactions can be dismissed as
political posturing. Silly but harmless.

And Democrats can and should raise more serious questions about Daniels'
possible bid for governor. Why has the federal budget slid from surplus to
deficit on his watch? Could he get along well enough with state legislators
to lead effectively as governor?

The headline on the party's Web site, however, was mean-spirited and
personal. Regardless of what one thinks of Daniels' political views, he's
done nothing to deserve such bile.

Manous acknowledged Tuesday that the headline was off base. "It probably
should have been worded better than it is," he said. The article was pulled
off the site later that day.

He promised the upcoming governor's race will focus on policy issues, not
personal assaults.

Yet it's interesting that Democrats have grown obsessed with a man who is
only a potential candidate for governor in an election more than two years
away. The attacks unintentionally reveal Democrats' fears about their own
candidate's weaknesses.

Lt. Gov. Joe Kernan will have no choice but to run on the administration's
abysmal record. Better to shift attention to the other guy's mistakes, no
matter how distant, than to face up to the fact that Indiana's economy is
in tatters, the budget is a mess and a blitz of tax increases won't stop
deep cuts in services.

Mitch Daniels made a mistake as a college student more than 30 years ago.
Unlike Bill Clinton, he hasn't tossed out a lame excuse attempting to
minimize his actions. He's admitted his error, changed his ways and grown up.

Indiana Democrats should do the same.