My friends, last month Indiana lost 16,500 jobs.

If you didn’t hear me the first time, allow me to repeat: 16,500 jobs.

There are plenty of economists and political hacks who will tell you that one month’s numbers are a statistical anomaly and we shouldn’t be worried.

Unfortunately, this has been happening month after month since Mitch Daniels took office.

That might not be a huge problem if Daniels hadn’t made a big deal in 2004 promising to bring thousands of new jobs here.

Has he brought jobs? Yes. Half as many as former Gov. Joe Kernan did. Oh, and Daniels has had twice as much time.

The Gov’s people are now trying to say he’s brought thousands more jobs here, but we just have to wait a little longer for them to appear.

I guess that’s the ‘I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today’ method of governing.

Daniels’ latest internal polling shows him up by almost 20 points over unknown and under-funded Democratic challenger Jill Long Thompson. He’s on track to win a second term.

Let’s hope, if he does, that he starts paying attention to the promises he makes - and the people who get hurt when they don’t come true. Those jobs are people, not just numbers.