Mitch Daniels, a favorite with many in the GOP "establishment," has decided not to run for president in 2012.

This makes 3 Republican candidates who have decided to skip the primaries. Mike Huckabee, Donald Trump, and Haley Barbour were all considered serious candidates to one extent or another and all have declined the opportunity to run.

Politico reports on the unusual way in which Daniels made the announcement:

The Daniels email, obtained by POLITICO, went out from Indiana GOP chief Eric Holcomb, a key Daniels adviser, soon after midnight, with the word "Urgent" in the subject line.

"The following is from Governor Mitch Daniels...." the email began.

"I hope this reaches you before the public news does," Daniels wrote. "If so, please respect my confidence for the short time until I can make it known to all."

"The counsel and encouragement I received from important citizens like you caused me to think very deeply about becoming a national candidate. In the end, I was able to resolve every competing consideration but one, but that, the interests and wishes of my family, is the most important consideration of all. If I have disappointed you, I will always be sorry."

The "family considerations" to which Daniels refers was his very public marital soap opera where his wife Cheri divorced him in 1993 to marry a former sweetheart, only to come back to Daniels a few years later and remarry him. His wife didn't want to go through a campaign with the press asking questions about that period of time, nor did Daniels' 4 grown daughters want to relive those painful memories. The personal drama would almost certainly have distracted from any message that a Daniels campaign would have been trying to get across.

Daniels is a capable executive who proved that he could hold the line on spending during some very difficult times. For a variety of reasons, his campaign would not have excited many in the base, but the GOP moneymen and establishment politicos were looking forward to supporting him in the race.

Will they now turn their attention to Jon Huntsman or even Chris Christie? Stay tuned.