Yale students are making an effort to move away from party politics, according to Politico’s Ben Smith ’99. In a second push to make Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels as Republican party candidate for president, Yalies are arguing:

Governor Daniels has said that he does not plan to run, that he would rather serve out his governorship and give the people of Indiana his undivided attention, and that the only reason he hasn’t completely shut the door on the idea of running for President is his concern that 2012 election will not seriously address America’s real problems.

We share that concern.

That is why we launched the Student Initiative to Draft Daniels. We are a netroots political action committee founded at Yale University that is urging the Governor Daniels to seek the 2012 Republican Presidential nomination. We believe he is the right man for these times.

According to a previous Politico article, Daniels represents the more centrist portion of the GOP, supporting a few traditionally liberal stances. What’s more, Max Eden ’11, the Yale student leading the support for Daniels identifies as a Democrat, also indicative of his image as representing an alliance between both sides of the political spectrum.

The Yale students leading the initiative cite the growing participation of college students in American politics, evidenced by the high youth turnout rate at the last election, as encouragement that a grassroots student initiative can work. With this in mind, the students’ ultimate goal is to gather the signatures of students around the country on a petition asking Daniels to step up as a 2012 Presidential Candidate.

Post has been updated to reflect Ben Smith’s ’99 class year.