Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt.

It’s just before 2 a.m. Wednesday and the new clock radio in the Van Pelt family kitchen in Granger is buzzing.

Someone should shut that thing off. Someone like the governor of Indiana.

Gov. Mitch Daniels was spending the night with the Van Pelt family of Granger when the alarm clock went off, he told a group of people over breakfast Wednesday at Honkers Family Restaurant in Mishawaka.

Daniels realized he was the only person in the household to hear it, so he padded into the kitchen and silenced it. Call it an executive decision.

The first-term governor, who is hoping in November for a second term, often stays with families while on the road, rather than at a hotel, campaign spokesman Cam Savage said.

He picked the Van Pelts because their 18-year-old daughter, Koneshia Murphy, got signatures to put him on the ballot for a school project. In fact, she collected 117.

“He seemed more interested in the people than other politicians,” Murphy said of Daniels.

The interrupted sleep didn’t seem to affect Daniels, who made his way around tables at Honkers, holding about two dozen invited guests.

He talked about his upcoming trade mission to Japan, and how he feels it’s important to maintain regular visits with business contacts there.

“We don’t just fly by, give them a kiss and come back in five years,” he said. “We go in every year.”

And he got a lot of praise from community leaders for his remarks to the state’s Republican convention earlier this week.

He also spent a lot of time sitting with student council members who serve on Mishawaka’s Youth Council.

“What’s on the worry list?” Daniels asked the students.

“Planning for homecoming,” one replied.

“Ah,” Daniels said. “A thankless job.”