George Pataki made it official Thursday, stressing his three terms as New York governor in announcing he would seek the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.
"I was a Republican governor in a very deep blue state," Pataki said in a video posted along with his campaign website.
Pataki has his work cut out for him in a Republican field that will likely have more than a dozen candidates; he barely registers in a new Quinnipiac Poll of GOP candidates.
In his video, Pataki said he would work to reduce the size and power of government, ease the nation's political divisions and improve national security; he cited his experience as governor in the wake of the 9/11 attacks in New York City.
"If we are to flourish as a people, we have to fall in love with America again," Pataki said in a video.
Pataki has a kickoff campaign event Thursday in New Hampshire.
On paper, Pataki's credentials are impressive. He defeated liberal icon Mario Cuomo in 1994 to win the first of his three terms as governor of New York, one of the nation's largest, and bluest, states.
But his bid is unquestionably a long shot. He didn't register at all in a Fox News poll taken earlier this month among likely GOP primary voters, and he's largely been off the national stage since exiting the governor's office at the end of 2006.
He's even taken to making self-deprecating cracks about his status within the Republican presidential field. At a town hall in New Hampshire earlier this year, an attendee suggested he was a "second-tier kind of candidate." According to The Daily Beast, Pataki deadpanned: "You are moving me up, then!"
http://onpolitics.usatoday.com/2015/05/28/poll-five-republicans-tied-for-first-10-each/
This is not the first time Pataki, 69, has considered a presidential run. He mulled but ultimately passed on White House bids in 2000, 2008 and 2012.
Pataki has touted his ability to win states where Republicans have not traditionally fared well, but his more moderate stances on issues such as abortion will be tough to overcome among more conservative GOP primary voters.
http://www.press-citizen.com/story/...eorge-pataki-president-announcement/27957089/
"I was a Republican governor in a very deep blue state," Pataki said in a video posted along with his campaign website.
Pataki has his work cut out for him in a Republican field that will likely have more than a dozen candidates; he barely registers in a new Quinnipiac Poll of GOP candidates.
In his video, Pataki said he would work to reduce the size and power of government, ease the nation's political divisions and improve national security; he cited his experience as governor in the wake of the 9/11 attacks in New York City.
"If we are to flourish as a people, we have to fall in love with America again," Pataki said in a video.
Pataki has a kickoff campaign event Thursday in New Hampshire.
On paper, Pataki's credentials are impressive. He defeated liberal icon Mario Cuomo in 1994 to win the first of his three terms as governor of New York, one of the nation's largest, and bluest, states.
But his bid is unquestionably a long shot. He didn't register at all in a Fox News poll taken earlier this month among likely GOP primary voters, and he's largely been off the national stage since exiting the governor's office at the end of 2006.
He's even taken to making self-deprecating cracks about his status within the Republican presidential field. At a town hall in New Hampshire earlier this year, an attendee suggested he was a "second-tier kind of candidate." According to The Daily Beast, Pataki deadpanned: "You are moving me up, then!"
http://onpolitics.usatoday.com/2015/05/28/poll-five-republicans-tied-for-first-10-each/
This is not the first time Pataki, 69, has considered a presidential run. He mulled but ultimately passed on White House bids in 2000, 2008 and 2012.
Pataki has touted his ability to win states where Republicans have not traditionally fared well, but his more moderate stances on issues such as abortion will be tough to overcome among more conservative GOP primary voters.
http://www.press-citizen.com/story/...eorge-pataki-president-announcement/27957089/
