http://www.newsmax.com/PrintTemplate.aspx/?nodeid=613438Newsmax
George Pataki 'Very Seriously' Considering Presidential Bid
Tuesday, December 16, 2014 08:03 PM
By: Cathy Burke
Three-term former New York Gov. George Pataki — who says he is "very seriously" considering a 2016 bid for the White House — says its current resident, President Barack Obama, is a slick speaker who "has never run anything" in his six years at the nation's helm.
"I have no doubt in my mind that I have the ability to run this country well," the 69-year-old Republican told the New York Daily News, asserting that America needs more leaders with his level of experience.
Then, taking unblinking aim at Obama, Pataki charged: "When you look at the last six years, we have someone who may speak well but has never run anything."
"I ran a big, complex state government under very difficult circumstances, in my opinion, very well," he said.
Pataki told the newspaper he'd make up his mind about a possible run next year, and has already traveled to key primary states New Hampshire and South Carolina.
"What I have been doing is going to states and meeting with ordinary citizens, people who care and seeing what their opinion is," he said. "That's what I have always tried to do, and the reaction I've been getting is very positive."
State GOP Chairman Ed Cox was measured in his response to the possible candidacy, saying New York Republicans would take a good look before committing their support.
"We have a state committee that would do that if they were going to do it," Cox told the Daily News. "He's a three-term Republican governor of New York state, that says a lot."
The GOP hasn't won a statewide race in New York since Pataki captured a third term in 2002, but the former governor says he knows exactly how to widen the party's appeal to minority communities.
"When you make a concerted effort and tell people that the ideas and principles you have are important to improving everyone's life, than you can expand and broaden the base of the party," Pataki told the Daily News.
Pataki joins a crowded field of Republican state executives considering a bid for the GOP nomination, including Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Chris Christie of New Jersey, Wisconsin's Scott Walker, Rick Perry of Texas, Ohio's John Kasich, and Mike Pence of Indiana.
