INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Gov. Mitch Daniels ended his keynote address at the Republican State Convention on a positive note last week by, well, urging the party faithful to stay positive during the march to November.

"Let's go win big and let's do it the right way, just like the last time," he said to about 1,800 state GOP delegates. "Let's be positive, no disparagement of anybody's character or motives."

But did Daniels deliver that message having already taken the gloves off just minutes before in his speech?

This is what Daniels had to say about state Democrats before asking fellow Republicans to take the high road during the general election campaign season:

"Now our opponents in this state are good people," he said. "They are good parents, they are good neighbors, they are Hoosiers like us, but they are not as a group good at governing Indiana. They were not in those 16 wilderness years good for this state."

Daniels was referring to the 16 years that Democrats controlled the governor's office before he was elected in 2004. He went on:

"Their policies are not good for Indiana today and we cannot let them reverse the progress of the last 3½ years," he said. "The direction they seek is called reverse, and there's nothing new about it. They are like a bad satellite radio station — all negative all the time.

"God love them, but the next constructive idea they propose for Indiana's future will be their first one. The only jobs plan they've got is to give back the government jobs they love so much."

The crowd loved the one-liners, of course. Such comments are as common as confetti at party conventions. They help rally the troops for the political battles — including Daniels' bid for a second term, that will be waged in the coming months.

But did Daniels end up delivering a mixed message by later telling his fellow Republicans to stay positive?

He dismissed any such characterization when talking to reporters after the convention.

"I am probably the only Republican you have covered who goes out of his way to say that these are really good people, and they are," he said.

"I simply do believe the policies they stand for are the ones that got this state in trouble and are getting our neighbors (bordering states) in trouble right now, and I think that is quite different from the negativism that characterizes too much of American politics right now, which gets into personality, which gets into motives."

It's true that Daniels did not single out any individual Democrat during his criticisms. It's also true that Democrats have shot plenty of arrows at him Daniels during his campaign for governor and throughout his first term.

But is likening Democrats to being a bad satellite radio station — being "all negative, all the time," staying positive? Is saying their next constructive idea for Indiana's future will be their first one "staying positive?"

Without some support from Democrats who have controlled the Indiana House the past two years, Daniels could not boast about some of the moves he considers big first-term accomplishments, such as the major property tax relief and restructuring plan passed last year or the program to provide health insurance to more low-income Hoosiers passed in 2007.

Have no doubts. Democrats are sure to take several verbal shots at Daniels and Republicans at their state convention on June 1. The questions is, will they preface such remarks — or follow them — by saying they should stay positive?

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EDITORS: Mike Smith has covered Indiana's Statehouse and political scene since 1993.