There’s been Twitter speculation recently that Mitch Daniels would be entering the race soon, but he told reporters that he’s still mulling over the decision—although the announcement will come shortly.

“I’m not going to take much longer with it,” Daniels said.

Now that the 2012 field is starting to take shape, with Huckabee and Trump dropping out and Gingrich basically handicapping himself, Daniels’s decision will be one of the biggest definers of the race.

Which is why it’s in his best interest to announce his decision quickly. Daniels has already generated sufficient buzz by playing coy about his decision, but there’s only so long he can go with this.

There just isn’t much of a benefit for staying out of the race much longer. Continuing to wait will only give Mitt Romney more time to attempt to position himself as the frontrunner. Romney’s announcement that he raised $10.25 million last night was aimed at giving this impression. And Romney’s campaign contribution disclosures on June 30 will likely be even more impressive, with some sources placing his target around $40 million. Daniels has an excellent fundraising network himself, but he can’t afford to give Romney too much of a head start on this.