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| Former New York governor George Pataki announces presidential bid | Former New York governor George Pataki announces presidential bid |
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| Former New York governor George Pataki jumped into the crowd of Republicans vying for the 2016 nomination for president on Wednesday, saying the time to “take back this government” is now. | Former New York governor George Pataki jumped into the crowd of Republicans vying for the 2016 nomination for president on Wednesday, saying the time to “take back this government” is now. |
| Pataki, 69, who served three terms as governor from 1995 to 2006, announced his candidacy in a video, titled George Pataki For President, posted to his website on Thursday. | Pataki, 69, who served three terms as governor from 1995 to 2006, announced his candidacy in a video, titled George Pataki For President, posted to his website on Thursday. |
| “I was a Republican governor in a very deep blue state, the state of New York,” Pataki said in the video. “I was governor for three terms and it’s because at the end people realized my vision was not a partisan vision it was a vision about people, about what we could accomplish together.” | “I was a Republican governor in a very deep blue state, the state of New York,” Pataki said in the video. “I was governor for three terms and it’s because at the end people realized my vision was not a partisan vision it was a vision about people, about what we could accomplish together.” |
| At an event in Exeter, New Hampshire later in the day, he formally declared his candidacy, saying that he was running for the White House in order “to preserve and protect that freedom” that had made the US “the greatest country the world has ever known”. | |
| Pointing to his record in New York, he said: “After 12 years of my conservative policies, we replaced dependency with opportunity, resignation with hope, mere existence with dreams, a welfare check with a paycheck.” | Pointing to his record in New York, he said: “After 12 years of my conservative policies, we replaced dependency with opportunity, resignation with hope, mere existence with dreams, a welfare check with a paycheck.” |
| He added: “I know we can do the same thing for the United States.” | He added: “I know we can do the same thing for the United States.” |
| Related: Rick Santorum announces second run for Republican presidential nomination | Related: Rick Santorum announces second run for Republican presidential nomination |
| Pataki loomed large in New York politics for nearly two decades, serving three terms as governor of the state and presiding over the resurgence of New York City as well as its recovery after 9/11. He took up several environmental crusades while in office, passing clean air and water acts, creating parks and protecting more than a million acres of land. | Pataki loomed large in New York politics for nearly two decades, serving three terms as governor of the state and presiding over the resurgence of New York City as well as its recovery after 9/11. He took up several environmental crusades while in office, passing clean air and water acts, creating parks and protecting more than a million acres of land. |
| But critics on both the right and left have questioned Pataki’s record on the economy, attacking the deals he made to increase government spending and his deep ties with real estate developers and casinos. Most often critics accused him of doing too little to boost the economy or combat crime: when Eliot Spitzer took up Pataki’s post in 2007, the new governor said that New York had “slept through much of the past decade”. | But critics on both the right and left have questioned Pataki’s record on the economy, attacking the deals he made to increase government spending and his deep ties with real estate developers and casinos. Most often critics accused him of doing too little to boost the economy or combat crime: when Eliot Spitzer took up Pataki’s post in 2007, the new governor said that New York had “slept through much of the past decade”. |
| Pataki promptly vanished from political consciousness, despite periodic attempts to ascend to the national stage through Super Pacs and flirtations with presidential campaigns. He has approached the 2016 election as a relatively moderate Republican, styling himself after his idol Teddy Roosevelt: hawkish on spending cuts and military action but a staunch believer in combating climate change and the occasional compromise. | Pataki promptly vanished from political consciousness, despite periodic attempts to ascend to the national stage through Super Pacs and flirtations with presidential campaigns. He has approached the 2016 election as a relatively moderate Republican, styling himself after his idol Teddy Roosevelt: hawkish on spending cuts and military action but a staunch believer in combating climate change and the occasional compromise. |
| He faces daunting obstacles to the nomination: virtually no national recognition, a crowded field of better known rivals and Republican base of voters that likely skews too conservative to support his record. His competitors on the other hand include nationally prominent moderates like former Florida governor Jeb Bush and Senator Rand Paul, and candidates with more niche appeal, like former senator Rick Santorum, who declared his candidacy in Pennsylvania on Wednesday. | He faces daunting obstacles to the nomination: virtually no national recognition, a crowded field of better known rivals and Republican base of voters that likely skews too conservative to support his record. His competitors on the other hand include nationally prominent moderates like former Florida governor Jeb Bush and Senator Rand Paul, and candidates with more niche appeal, like former senator Rick Santorum, who declared his candidacy in Pennsylvania on Wednesday. |
| Having spent most of his time and energy in New Hampshire in recent weeks, Pataki has seemingly thrown all his eggs in the basket of a critical primary state – but one that is not the election’s certain arbiter. | Having spent most of his time and energy in New Hampshire in recent weeks, Pataki has seemingly thrown all his eggs in the basket of a critical primary state – but one that is not the election’s certain arbiter. |
| Establishment Republicans would be unlikely to support Pataki, whose moderate bona fides might appeal to them but whose home state has not voted Republican in a presidential election since Ronald Reagan ran for re-election. | Establishment Republicans would be unlikely to support Pataki, whose moderate bona fides might appeal to them but whose home state has not voted Republican in a presidential election since Ronald Reagan ran for re-election. |
| Pataki has pointed to his surprise 1994 victory over Governor Mario Cuomo as a sign that he has a chance. | Pataki has pointed to his surprise 1994 victory over Governor Mario Cuomo as a sign that he has a chance. |
| “It will be a very stiff climb up a very steep mountain, but that hasn’t stopped me in the past,” Pataki told the New York Post on Wednesday. He then compared himself to Roosevelt, saying he “understands that conservatism isn’t just economic policy but it’s also preserving and enhancing the outdoors.” | “It will be a very stiff climb up a very steep mountain, but that hasn’t stopped me in the past,” Pataki told the New York Post on Wednesday. He then compared himself to Roosevelt, saying he “understands that conservatism isn’t just economic policy but it’s also preserving and enhancing the outdoors.” |