An upbeat former New York Gov. George Pataki plans Thursday to toss his hat in the ring for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination – undeterred by long odds or political naysayers.
Pataki, who served the Empire State as its chief executive for 12 years, will make the announcement in
Exeter, N.H., which claims to be the birthplace of the Republican party – and where Pataki has put in more face-time than any presidential candidate,
the New York Post reports.
It will be a very long shot, pundits say.
"I just don’t see where he could win," GOP consultant Ed Rollins told the New York Post.
"I’m not sure he could win in New York anymore."
New York Times columnist
Gail Collins called him "a deeply uncharismatic reminder of the days of yore," and Newsday political writer
Dan Janison notes that "for all the respect he gets… Pataki may prove to be the Rodney Dangerfield of national politics."
Pataki is unfazed.
"It will be a very stiff climb up a very steep mountain, but that hasn’t stopped me in the past," he told the Post.
Pataki is putting most of his chips on a strong showing in New Hampshire, whose first-in-the-nation primary is a key test for the conservative Republican field.
Yet, the Post notes, the state also has a large contingent of independent voters who could favor a moderate like Pataki, who is pro-choice, supportive of states having gay marriage and has a record of tightening gun laws and environmental protections.
"I’m a Republican following in the tradition of Teddy Roosevelt who understands that conservatism isn’t just economic policy and but it’s also preserving and enhancing the outdoors," Pataki told the Post, saying decisions like marriage, gun rights and education should be left up to the states.
He's done his homework in the Granite State, where his super PAC has been placing ads, and he's been meeting with longtime donors in New York and Florida about his presidential hopes, the Post reports.
Last week, the leaders of the five Republican county organizations in New York City urged Pataki to take a run for the White House,
the New York Observer reports.
"The more time the governor spends here, the better he is doing," Alissa Tweedie, a 35-year-old Navy veteran from New Hampshire, tells the Post.
"He meets with groups of any size without any pretenses – no scripting here. I think many have underestimated him and I think that’s just where he wants to be."
Yet despite his deep political experience, Pataki will have to make a big splash to even get on the nation's radar, one expert tells the Post.
"Right now, Gov. Pataki is on everyone’s list of also-rans. That’s remarkable to say about a three-term governor of New York who was a prominent part of 9/11, but it’s true," Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, tells the Post.
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