Although a recent Quinnipiac poll showed former New York governor George Pataki leading incumbent senator Kirsten Gillibrand 45% to 40%, Pataki told the Wall Street Journal he isn't running for Senate. A big reason why Pataki chose not to run, one veteran NY GOP operative tells THE WEEKLY STANDARD, is that he wants to run for president in 2012.
The operative points to three signs that Pataki is prepping for a run: 1) he's creating a national organization, Revere America, to advocate the repeal of Obamacare 2) he's writing a book and 3) he endorsed Doug Hoffman in last year's contested upstate New York House race.
Reached by phone tonight, Pataki told TWS that he thought about a run for Senate but concluded that repealing Obamacare is "more about one vote in just one state," and he'll "impact many different races" at Revere America, a free market 501(c)4 that will run issue ads against Obamacare this year in key states.
"I am very much thinking about writing a book," Pataki told me. He said it would focus on his "concern about how the politics in Washington is for the first time making Americans doubt what we've always accepted ... that our children would live a better life than us."
Though Pataki told the WSJ, "It's way too early for anyone to make a decision unequivocally that they will or will not run," it certainly seems like he has national ambitions.
Pataki would probably have a very, very steep climb in a GOP presidential primary for a number of reasons, including his moderate record.