INDIANAPOLIS – Gov. Mitch Daniels has been full of advice lately for the ailing Republican Party.

Recent quotes given to a national publication have been circulating in GOP circles as a guide to moving the national GOP forward, though Daniels continues to say he has run his last campaign.

“Always have a better answer. I said that the party needs to face up to the fact they have to spend some time in the penalty box,” Daniels reiterated last week while speaking with state media.

“And I said we have to be a loyal opposition. Where there are things that the administration is doing that we can agree with – I cited education policy – we should say so. So that when you have to take exception, people know it’s not just a knee-jerk reaction.

“I said exactly what I said for four years when I talk about the party of purpose in Indiana. I’m always telling my fellow Republicans: If we ever stop being the party that defines the agenda, that offers the new ideas to make people’s lives better; that stands for reform, then it will be our turn to go.

“I think that happened nationally, but the reverse is the case in Indiana.”

Stepping down

Rep. Jeff Espich, R-Uniondale – the chairman of the State Budget Committee – is giving up the gavel a few months early.

Legislative leaders decided last week to use the bipartisan legislative panel, which also includes the state budget director, to work ahead on a new state budget before the legislature goes into special session.

Espich was set to turn over the chairmanship to Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, by July 1 anyway. And House Democrats were more comfortable having Kenley in that role because he represents a majority legislative caucus.

“In two months I would have been out anyway,” Espich said. “I’m interested in cooperation.”

Fundraisers

The current president and a former president will highlight several upcoming Democratic fundraisers in Indiana.

President Obama will visit May 17 for a special dinner to benefit four Democratic congressmen. The event is at 4 p.m. at the Westin in downtown Indianapolis.

Seating ranges from $250 for a bleacher spot to $5,000 for preferred seating.

For more information or to reserve a spot, send an e-mail to keepindianablue@gmail.com.

Then on June 20, former President Bill Clinton will keynote the Indiana Democratic Party’s 2009 Jefferson Jackson Day dinner.

The reception starts at 5 p.m. at the Marriott in downtown Indianapolis, with dinner at 6:30 p.m. Tickets cost $125 per person or $1,250 a table.

For more information, go to www.indems.org/jj or call 1-800-223-3387.

GOP events

The Democrats aren’t the only ones with upcoming events.

Here are some local Republican happenings.

•State Treasurer Richard Mourdock will hold a fundraiser Monday at Parkview Field. The event will be at the Hagerman Construction luxury box. Tickets are $50, and sponsorships are $250. Interested people are asked to RSVP to Jim Banks at jbanks@hagermangc.com or call 260-424-1470.

•Charlie White will be at Monday’s Conservative Breakfast Club. The group meets weekly at the Window Garden restaurant on the 13th floor of 1 Summit Square in downtown Fort Wayne at 7:30 a.m. White is the Hamilton County GOP chairman and a Fishers town councilman. He is the only declared Republican candidate for state secretary of state, according to the group.

McIntosh wins cash

Hoosier-congressman-turned-Washington-lobbyist David McIntosh will share a $250,000 prize with five others for his role in the creation of the Federalist Society, a conservative-libertarian organization of lawyers.

McIntosh, who represented the Muncie area for six years in the 1990s, will receive about $42,000 from the Milwaukee-based Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation.

Journal Gazette Washington Editor Sylvia A. Smith contributed to this column.