Mitch Daniels ousts George Pataki as champion of tepid Romney endorsements

— -- On Friday, we asked readers to choose whether Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels or former New York Gov. George Pataki had given Mitt Romney a less enthusiastic endorsement. Pataki was the winner of our original NCAA-style bracket for the most tepid statement in support of Romney, defeating the likes of Marco Rubio and Jon Huntsman. After Daniels made news with his own backhanded endorsement, we pitted him against Pataki for the crown.

By a vote of 59 percent to 41 percent, Yahoo readers delivered the victory to Daniels. Frankly, we thought Pataki's catalog of Romney's weaknesses would hold out against the upset Daniels' characterization of Romney as a dirty campaigner who can't communicate with the non-rich. But Daniels wound up as the unquestionable winner. TKO.