The three major candidates for governor of Indiana offer three clear choices this year.

Libertarian Andrew Horning is your choice if wit is what you value most. He thinks well on his feet and can send verbal zingers with the best of them. For substance, however, his views are out of synch with the populace and modern society.

That narrows it down to the incumbent, Republican Mitch Daniels, and Democrat Jill Long Thompson.

Each has experience at the federal level, Thompson as a former congresswoman and Daniels as a former director of the Office of Management and Budget.

What separates them most is that Daniels has detailed plans and ideas without adding taxes, while Thompson has plans that lack specifics, including how she would pay for her generalist ideas.

Thompson, always on the attack, has tried to link Daniels to President Bush and the national budget deficit, but Daniels is no longer the president's budget director. In fact, as governor, Daniels has pulled Indiana out of the red ink left by his predecessors and placed the state solidly in the black.

Under his leadership, Indiana has brought major reductions in the property tax -- something taxpayers now receiving their bills can see -- and is working toward making the tax caps permanent. Local governments are being forced to operate more efficiently, keeping taxes from spiraling out of control.

A key issue that Thompson has attacked Daniels over time and again is the long-term lease of the Indiana Toll Road for $3.8 billion. She is wrong, for the facts are on Daniels side. That lease, the centerpiece of Daniels' Major Moves transportation initiative, generates more interest on the state's invested money in just one year than the previous 50 years of tolls collected under the state's operation.

Thompson says a new analysis she spawned shows the road was worth more than $11 billion over that time if the state would have increased tolls it charged.

In other words, she would have passed along a quasi tax increase.

She forgets Democratic governors over the past few decades looked at the idea and rejected it. She forgets that as a part of the Toll Road lease, the new operators were required to invest millions in improvements, including the I-Zoom system.

She ignores the vast investment being made to Indiana's transportation network, including work on the Borman Expressway. Asked how she would build a stretch of I-69 to connect Indianapolis with Evansville, she said she would "seek federal dollars." How very naive.

Indiana's successful lease of the Toll Road is being copied by other states.

It is providing much-needed money to fix or build bridges, repair and construct highways and do a host of transportation projects long on hold for the lack of funds.

For economic development, Thompson proposes a complicated three-tier system for counties that would move away from tax incentives and reward companies for such things as hiring at least five new employees, providing half the cost of premiums for group health insurance and making other investments. But she provides no specifics.

Daniels helped create the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority to leverage economic development money to get more bang for our tax dollars. It is already helping attract jobs to the region and holds great promise for future job growth. And while it has helped bring jobs to the region, the program is being guided by local people.

Thompson hammers Daniels over the state's rate of job losses, yet the fact is that Indiana's unemployment rate is less than any of its neighbors and the state has been recognized nationally for its business climate. This during a time of economic crisis in the nation.

Daniels has also forged a unique alliance with U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky for the betterment of Northwest Indiana, showing his ability to reach across the aisle.

Daniels proposes tapping Hoosier Lottery money to make college more affordable to young Hoosiers. Thompson proposes raising the income limit for the 21st Century Scholars program but doesn't detail where the money would come from.

In all three gubernatorial debates this fall, Horning proved the comedian and Thompson the vicious attack dog -- neither of which Indiana needs for a governor. Daniels has been the sole voice of sanity and reason, offering solid ideas with the details showing they can work.

The bottom line is that Daniels has proven himself to be an out-of-the-box thinker who gets good things done for the people of Indiana. He was honored this year by Governing Magazine for his accomplishments and for being a strong state leader.

There is no question in this contest. Daniels has earned a final term to continue working on an agenda that comes from a proven record of success.

Clearly, this is not the time for change in Indiana.

The Times strongly endorses Daniels.