Republicans conclude Indiana convention

INDIANAPOLIS -- Conservative activist Eric Miller told delegates at the Republican State Convention that with hard work and the right stand on issues, they could guarantee that Mitch Daniels is elected governor in November.\nMiller, who lost to Daniels in the May 4 primary, had billed Tuesday's speech as a public endorsement and afterward said it was one.\nMiller never said directly during his speech before hundreds of delegates at the Indiana Convention Center that he was endorsing Daniels, nor did he specifically urge his followers to do the same. He seemed to imply the endorsement, instead.\n"As I've said many times in the course of this campaign, Mitch, it's time for a Republican governor in the state of Indiana," Miller said, pointing to Daniels from the podium.\nDaniels called it a great endorsement and said Miller had "picked a good moment of high impact" to give it.\nThe primary race between Daniels and Miller was mostly cordial and Miller was gracious in loss, but he had not endorsed Daniels since the election. Daniels extended an invitation to Miller last week to speak at the convention, and Miller accepted it last Friday.\nGOP delegates closed their convention Tuesday after formally nominating state Sen. Becky Skillman as Daniels' running mate for lieutenant governor. They also nominated Suellen Reed for a fourth term as superintendent of public instruction, and Steve Carter for a second term as attorney general.\nNone faced party opposition, so the two-day convention was primarily a pep rally heading into the November election, when Daniels faces Democratic Gov. Joe Kernan.\nState Democrats are scheduled to hold their convention Saturday. They have yet to name candidates to take on Reed and Carter.\nWith no nominations to fight over and sensing their best chance in years for winning back the governor's office, Republicans spent much of their convention reveling in optimism.\n"This is the most unified I have seen the party at a convention," said Fayette County GOP chairman David Cox. "We're just bringing what we're feeling in the counties."\nSeveral Republican speakers took swipes at state Democrats, blaming them for the state's budget deficits and job losses in recent years, among other things. Democrats have controlled the governor's office for 16 years.\n"The problems we face aren't Indiana's fault," Skillman said in accepting her nomination for lieutenant governor. "Those in charge just haven't gotten the job done."\nMiller tried to distinguish himself as the more conservative candidate on fiscal and moral issues during the primary race with Daniels, and he touched on some of his campaign stands during Tuesday's speech. They included his support for a state constitutional ban on gay marriage.\n"When we support the traditional definition of marriage, Hoosier families will stand with us," Miller said. "We must amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage and civil unions."\nDaniels has said he supports the traditional definition of marriage, and would back a state constitutional ban if it was needed to uphold a state law already on the books.\nMiller told reporters after Tuesday's convention that he would continue to talk issues with Daniels, including a gay-marriage amendment. He noted that all 49 members of the Indiana House favor one, as does Carter, the attorney general.\n"We trust that Mitch will make that commitment as well," Miller said.