George Pataki Faces Impossible Odds to the Presidency
George Pataki, the former three-term Republican governor of New York, the man who headed the state during the aftermath of 9/11, announced that he, too, will seek the GOP nomination for president. Most everyone believes he doesn’t have a chance. When the recent Quinnipiac Poll asked Republicans who they would support as their next president, Pataki didn’t even register. So few voters backed him that the pollsters drew a blank next to his name. Not only does Pataki have precious little name recognition, his pro-gun control and pro-choice positions will turn off the vast majority of Republicans. But he may have the connections of New York City donors and media. “This time around, Pataki hopes to break out of the pack in New Hampshire, where his political action committee has already been running ads,” NPR reports. “This is a purple state, where Republicans may value his record as a fiscal conservative and accept his relatively liberal positions on abortion, gun control and environmental protection. These latter views will not be espoused by Pataki’s rivals in the GOP primaries, but he is counting on finding a market for them among GOP primary voters.” If given the choice between Hillary Clinton and Pataki, we’d probably choose Pataki. But this raises the question: Wouldn’t he be better suited running to the right of Hillary in the Democrat primary? More…
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- 2016 election
- New Hampshire