Daniels was right on this one

Indiana historians are going to be reviewing the record of Gov. Mitch Daniels for decades to come.
But there’s one thing Mitch got undeniably right: The Sagamore of the Wabash.
The Sagamore is a gubernatorial award that popped up a few generations ago. Legend has it that it was a Hoosier response to the title of “Kentucky Colonel.”
But over time, its meaning has diminished, bit by bit.
Because there were no precise standards for who received a Sagamore and who didn’t, the rule of thumb varied from governor to governor.
And for years, that was fine.
But Gov. Daniels came to the conclusion that, without intending to, Indiana governors over the years had handed out the title too many times. A kind of grade inflation was at work, so that an A-plus didn’t mean as much as it used to.
Mitch decided to raise the bar. He tightened the standards — though he never precisely spelled out what the standards were — and he put more emphasis on the honorific title “Distinguished Hoosier.”
His intent was far from revolutionary. He just didn’t want the title of Sagamore of the Wabash to be diminished and figured the best way to do that was to be thoughtful about handing it out.
He also didn’t want to diminish the honor that previous Sagamores had enjoyed. He just wanted to insure that future honors were as meaningful as possible.
Unfortunately, in the transition, Gov. Mike Pence apparently didn’t get the memo.
Gov. Pence has, instead, indicated he’s loosening the Daniels-era rules and will be naming more Sagamores than his predecessor.
Maybe many more.
Does this matter? In the great scheme of things, of course not.
But ask yourself this: Would you rather receive an honor that few others had received or would you prefer to be one of a few hundred?
Our guess is that historians will conclude this is one that Mitch got right. — J.R.[[In-content Ad]]