A candidate who's not running made as much news as some who are running.

There are plenty of Republicans running for the party's 2012 presidential nomination, but one prominent member of the GOP made big news last weekend when he announced he would not be running.

Many Republicans were hoping that Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels would seek their party's nomination. But Daniels disappointed them by announcing that family considerations had persuaded him not to run.

So Daniels is out of the presidential sweepstakes. Indeed, he may be out of politics altogether because he's close to completing his second very successful term in office and is not running for re-election to the governor's office.

Running for president is a grueling process, even for the most enthusiastic of candidates. There are many thousands of acres to cover and voters to meet, fund-raising is a constant challenge, the competition is brutal and there is no certainty about how such an overwhelmingly difficult venture will end.

If you're not all in, you're definitely out of your element. Considered in that context, Daniels made the right decision. He puts his family's personal interests before his own political interests.

Daniels would have been a credible candidate. But given the rigors of the campaign, who can blame him for deciding it was not for him, his wife and his children.