Gov. Mitch Daniels, who pretty much threw his own party’s presidential nominee under the bus last month, will introduce John and Cindy McCain at their brief airport appearance tomorrow.

Daniels had a campaign presence at but personally skipped fellow Gov. Sarah Palin’s wingnut get-togethers in Indiana, but way back when, insiders will remember he was a staunch McCain backer.

So, why is he suddenly showing up at the tail end of the campaign? A few thoughts:

No harm, no foul: Looking at the electoral map, McCain is probably going to lose on Tuesday. Daniels is likely to win and win big. What the heck does he care if he stands next to McCain and plays nicey-nice with the partisans?

One day to go: Daniels’ intro will be swallowed up by the larger story that McCain finally came back to Indiana, which will be swallowed up by the larger story that the election is on Tuesday. At best, it’s a media blip.

Full recovery: Daniels is feeling cocky enough to show up in Statehouse and statewide candidates’ television spots and mail pieces. His approval rating, after months of advertising and a politically impotent opponent, has rebounded. Where he was a drag on the ticket two years ago, he might actually be able to help McCain in the final 24 hours.

Boredom: Election eve is a stressful time for any politico. Maybe Daniels just wanted to get out of the house.

If you’d told me a year ago that John McCain would (a) be the Republican presidential nominee and (b) be holding a campaign rally here the day before the election, I’d have keeled over on the spot.

And yet, today we find out that Sen. McMavericky will be here on Monday in an attempt to put a few last-ditch points on the board.

Every single poll has shown that Indiana, redder than red for the past four decades, is in play — with things all tied up. This shouldn’t be happening, but it is, and it’s happening because Barack Obama didn’t take us for granted.

So, here’s the question: Will it be enough, or will it be too little too late?

I’ve said for a month now that Obama wins Indiana by a couple points. I’m sticking with that, even if McAllOverTheFearAndLoathingTalkingPoints shows up a few hours before the polls open.

We can debate ’til the cows come home how things might have been if he’d connected on the economy and not picked an empty Dolce suit as his running mate, but he made the choices he made, and how he has to have to come to fly-over country to defend those choices in order to avoid complete embarrassment when the Magic Map lights up on election night.

The Indianapolis Star and the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics both released poll numbers today indicating that the Guv’s race is over. The Star has Democratic challenger Jill Long Thompson down by 18 points; the Downs Center shows her trailing by 17 points. I still think this one will wind up around 10 percent because of the Obama factor.

Speaking of Obama, the Star poll showed yesterday that he and John McCain are in a dead heat. The Downs Center poll shows the two candidates tied at 47 percent.

The Downs Center also polled the other two statewide races.

In the Attorney General’s race, Republican Greg Zoeller leads Democrat Linda Pence 46 percent to 42 percent. Republican Tony Bennett leads Democrat Richard Wood 45 percent to 41 percent in the race for Superintendent of Public Instruction.

What does all this mean?

The two down-ballot statewide races are tied to Obama’s turnout and performance; the Guv’s race is the result of a nearly flawless campaign by incumbent Mitch Daniels and a nearly nonexistent campaign by Thompson.

The guys at Politico have done a great piece on the most idiotic campaign rumors and why none of them are real stories. I suggest some of you read this and go relax for a while.   Trust me, you’ll feel better.