President Pataki

[PhilDernerJr]

Is anyone else laughing at George Pataki's consideraiton for running for President?

Not that Republicans have many better options, but what has this guy done to NY State that he thinks gives him even a DECENT enough resume to ru the nation?

[USAF Pilot 07]

Uggh, I hope he doesn't try a run for Prez... He's hasn't done anything for NYS, and has completely ignored NYC in his time in office as governor....

[Midnight Mike]

Rudy, where the hell are you! Pataki is not really known nationally & does really have that much charisma to win as President...

*Rudy* *Rudy*

I would love to see a Rudy & a Condi ticket! Condi for the VP slot, in the future, would be voted in as the first black and/or female President.

[T-Bird76]

Wacky Pataki as President, OMG that will suck. He's done nothing for NY in general. That will be interesting, two canidates from New York because Hillary is going to run that's for sure.

[Midnight Mike]

Wacky Pataki as President, OMG that will suck. He's done nothing for NY in general. That will be interesting, two canidates from New York because Hillary is going to run that's for sure.

I realize that I am in the minority, but, I do not believe that Hillary will run if the Republicans put up a strong challenger, & there are many to choose from.

Rudy
Condi
McCain

Are "3" Republicans with name value. My feelins on Hillary is that right now she is a strong force in the Senate, if she runs for President and loses she will fade into nothingness. Examples of that, John Edwards (John ?), John Kerry does not really get that much media time as a 20 year veteran in the Senate & a former Presidential nominee, Al Gore (Is he still alive), Walter Monale.

Senator Clinton likes power and will only run if the Republicans field a canidate that she can win against....

My dream team is a Rudy/Condi team......

The Democrat part is in disarray and having a polarizing figure in charge of the DNC such as Howard Dean is not helping matters any.

Getting back to Governor Pataki, he is an average Governor, good, nothing special, but, his name was attached to the 9/11 successes, where all he did was grab Rudi's coat-tails and let Rudi takeoffi, smart move on his part....

My guess, is that Pataki will either not run or make it very far, but, will get a position of some sorts in the White House.....

[Tom_Turner]

Its sad that George Pataki would be running for President of the United States of America.

Does *anyone* have a clue as to what he might want to accomplish for the country? Much less how?

Plucked from obscurity (Peekskill was it?) by Al D'Amato, the man did well with some common-sense crime and environment positions in the early going, but showed himself to be an empty suit very early on.

He was in no way up to the challenge of real leadership and is/was regularly outflanked by Mayor Guiliani, his first Lt Gov, Betsy Mcwhatevr, his chief of staff and other puppeteers on the payroll guiding him as surrogates to Senator D'Amato, to say nothing of Assembly and Senate leaders Bruno and Silver as well as his wife and whoever I may have forgotten.

His sleepy public appearances/statements -- while not nearly as offensive as the power mad and demagogic Hillary, - in the end are about nothing..and nothingness.

Here's hoping he will retire into well deserved obscurity. He could have done worse - its true.

It would be nice to see Guiliani make the run, although he'd likely have to be the 2nd half of a McCain ticket ... but Pataki's foolish attempt will certainly get in the way - to whatever small extent.

[jakbar]

I honestly don't understand how Pataki can think he's qualified to run for President, particularly with other higher profile candidates likely to be in he race.

Tom mentioned a McCain/Giuliani ticket. Now that's something that would earn my vote.

Josh

P.S. - I'm curious what the opinionated Novanglus thinks of all this. He (or is he perhaps a she?) always has some smart-ass comment when it comes to politics. It's usually all b.s., too. :)

[Matt Molnar]

To Patakai's credit, the state was an absolute shambles when he took over. Thing is, I wouldn't say he made it worse, but he certainly didn't make it any better. While Giuliani and Bloomberg were cleaning up city government the whole time Pataki has been in office, Pataki's Albany has remained the same cesspool it has been for hundreds of years. And as dense as he seems to be, I don't think he really believes he can become President. Not only does he have a lousy record as governor, he's entirely too liberal for the RNC to go near him. He's not that rich of a guy...a failed presidential run is probably worth a few extra g's per turn on the lecture circuit. Or perhaps he hopes the publicity will earn him a cabinet nomination.

As for Hillary, I definitely see her running in 2008. I don't see any terribly dominating Republican candidates that might cause her to reconsider. She's been doing a lot of political repositioning lately on national issues...she's actually moved to the right of the Bush admin on the subject of immigration...and she's largely kept quiet regarding Iraq. Who her opponent will be is anyone's guess. My personal preference would be McCain and Colin Powell, but I think Powell is probably done with politics after the whole UN WMD disaster. I don't see Condi running at all, and I love Rudy, but I don't see him being successful at all as a Prez or VP candidate.

[Novanglus]

I might not always be posting, but I'm always looking. :-p

George Pataki has spent his gubernatorial career sleeping. He's hardly qualified to run a hot dog stand. I have a better chance becoming President than he does.

[Midnight Mike]

I might not always be posting, but I'm always looking. :-p

George Pataki has spent his gubernatorial career sleeping. He's hardly qualified to run a hot dog stand. I have a better chance becoming President than he does.

In Pataki's defense, to clean up, I am not even sure if that is possble. Just like here in California, Arnold is trying to clean up as well, & well, what a battle it is turning into......

[Tom_Turner]

I might not always be posting, but I'm always looking. :-p

George Pataki has spent his gubernatorial career sleeping. He's hardly qualified to run a hot dog stand. I have a better chance becoming President than he does.

In Pataki's defense, to clean up, I am not even sure if that is possble. Just like here in California, Arnold is trying to clean up as well, & well, what a battle it is turning into......

Well, thats just the thing. There is no battle in Albany.

It probably is near impossible to clean up Albany's issues, but nothing indicates Pataki ever gave it a full effort. And now.. well, his actions appear to be aimed at what might sound good to a National audience..so, he's already done.

[T-Bird76]

In response to Mikes feeling about Rudy, McCain and, Condi.

Rudy IMO has no business running, while he was a great leader during 9/11 that doesn't justify his qualifications to run a nation. Ever since he left office he hasn't held any political office. I'd rather see him as VP before President.

Condi I don't think will run or let alone win. Sadly our country is certainly not ready for a black female President. Even Hillary is a stretch but she'll ride the coats tails of the prosperity of the Clinton era. Face it he might have been impeached but if he ran again he'd win by a landslide and he holds a ton of power with the public.

McCain is the only one I can see having a remote chance of winning and probably the best qualified to handle Iraq, but he's old. I think the country has been leaning more towards young vibrant leaders Vs. the old standard leadership.

The 08 electing is probably going to be the most interesting election we've seen in many many years. Its going to be a dog fight whoever the parties nominate. If Hilliary doesn't run in 08 you can rest assured she'll run in 2012.

[Tom_Turner]

In response to Mikes feeling about Rudy, McCain and, Condi.

Rudy IMO has no business running, while he was a great leader during 9/11 that doesn't justify his qualifications to run a nation. Ever since he left office he hasn't held any political office. I'd rather see him as VP before President.



I actually think he is well qualified for an executive position.

Politically speaking, Guiliani was/is "lucky" in so much as "911" left him with a national reputation, that to some extent is above partisanship on a national level. But it would certainly not be the reason I favor him.

He was an able prosecutor the likes of which we have not seen since. A rogues gallery of White collar criminals, Mob entities, and Govt officials were revealed during his time as prosecutor. It is true a few prosecutions were brought to bear on some folks that did not stick. But not a disproportiante number I don't believe. And I can't remember much talk of these folks being "innocent".

During his tenure as Mayor, he took on the Port Authority, the MTA, Senator D'Amato, The Board of Education, Time Warner Cable (true he was actually carrying water for Rupert Murdoch and Fox News) and any number of entities that were seemingly out of the reach of his office and answerable to virtually no one person in any way beholden to the electorate.

He successfully combined the Transit, Housing and NYPD into one. He significantly limited the out of control stream of "minstrels" and street peddlers. There was an extraordinary drop in crime. He did not do it himself. Dinkins had the misfortune of presiding at the time the crack epidemic was exploding, but Rudy still deserves major credit.

A significant number of folks were moved from welfare to workfare. Many thousands of others simply "disappeared" - either unable to show up for workfare when in fact they had to report to their actual jobs they supposedly did not have, and others at the prospect of being fingerprinted and caught in a fraud. In a particularly disengenous move, Gov Cuomo approved the fingerprinting publically, but behind the scenes attempted to prevent the data from being "used" to prevent fraud.

Al Sharpton was effectively marginalized and repugnant "boycotts" of Korean Grocers and the like soon disappeared.

Mob sponsored 4th of July celebrations/block parties came to an end. Indeed, it was remembered that fireworks are illegal in New York City.

Fare beaters and turnstile jumpers were arrested etc, on occasion with hundreds or thousands of dollars in their pockets...and sometimes with guns on them....

Govt officials were held accountable. Schools Chancellors were brought to City Hall to explain the inability to account for millions of dollars in their budgets. Henry Stern, the Parks Dept Head, had to explain why shakedowns were occuring for "donations" from residents in the Rockaways. Staten Island Beep, was informed mob cronies were not welcome in official capacities at the San Genaro feast. Housing Dept was brought to task on their notions of tenants not being allowed to have pets etc.

The gravy train seemingly enabled by Senator Charlie Rangell and the Abysinnian Baptist Church leader in connection to the permanently stalled Apollo Theatre renassiance was brought under scrutiny.

And for all this, Guiliani never stopped going to town meetings. Listening to questions and answering them - not with platitudes but with real answers, whether people wanted to listen or not.

When he was questioned about his extramaritial affairs, Guiliani answered appropriately: "None of your business" and "you ought to be ashamed of yourself".

I'm not sure of the numbers, but it would not surprise me if the New York City budget was much larger than the State of Arkansas or that of Georgia. And New York actually still has something left in the way of investigative journalism and a hostile press.

And, lets not forget. The issue of compassion and poor.

Bill Clinton was given a line item veto. It was a hard fought battle to get the Presidency this power.

Bill Clinton chose to use it to eliminate significant medicaid funds for New York State. As it happens New York State at that time (and probably still does) calculates its needs with a different Math than other states... :lol:
and Clinton was not wrong on the merits..though I doubt that was a problem.. but anyway, Senator Pat Moynihan as well as others predicted the sky would fall, hundreds of thousands dumped into the streets, starve to death etc...

Guiliani was one of the first to file suit...and ultimately the line item veto was eliminated..and the poor were saved. Who would've thunk it.

And in the matter of race relations... Mayor Guiliani outright fired the off duty police that participated in the stunt at the parade on Broad Channel that depicted a man in Black Face being dragged by a noose from the back of a pick up truck. Noted Civil Right Scholar :roll: Al Sharpton, in a major blunder, objected of course...just to be contrary.

The same Mr. Sharpton would show up at the hospital bedside of police torture victim Abner Luima to plant the notion the cops had been shouting "its Guiliani time" ...

The ever opportunistic Clintons of course managed to get the Federal Govt to investigate "profiling" by the NYPD. Once respectable institutions such as Amnesty International and the National ACLU took their pot shots at New York City while Guiliani was in office. Lost in all this was any real analysis of cop shootings of citizens per capita in cities across America...most notably in those cities with either Minority mayors or Democrat Mayors. In short, the usual Bull ****..... :shock:

But, anyway..yeah, Go Rudy! 8)

[PhilDernerJr]

I'll go ahead and fax your resume to Rudy's campaign, Tom. lol

Rudy also cleaned up NYC. How he managed to turn the city around after the mess that Dinkins left tells a lot. Making Times Square appealing for tourists and their families, and turning Bryant Park from a drug haven to a classy place for businesspeople to enjoy both day and night.

Maybe he gets my vote after all.

It's funny how the people that don't like Rudy have no argument against him. They blame Diallo and Louima on him like anything Rudy did was the direct cause. Desperation.

[T-Bird76]

I love Rudy and think he did a wonderful job as Mayor. President however is a far different story and while New York is a beast itself the world stage is a far greater challenge. Has he even said he's interested in running or are we just running after what certain media and Republicans have been wishing. It wouldn't shock me to see a Pataki/ Giuliani ticket.

[Tom_Turner]

Its anyones guess if Guiliani could make it through the registered Republican Primary Guantlet. Many guess he can't. Possibly McCain and Pataki cannot make it either.

He's a socially progressive Republican, or moderate conservative, as they say, but one has to track pretty far right to get through the primaries.

The Republican party dreams about Guiliani because he could likely win if he was already on the Ballot..but getting him there would be difficult.

Pataki/Guiliani is 100% out of the question. They do not get along. Rudy's endorsement of Mario Cuomo nearly prevented Pataki from ever becoming Gov...indeed, if it were timed a week or week and half later, it likely would have succeeded...and might even have resulted in Guiliani being offered the Democrat line a few years later. Pataki will never forget. His wife *hates* Guiliani.

And The Republicans, like the Democrats would probably never nominate a ticket with two politicians from the same state.

Not to be argumentative Tommy..but NYC is far more a National Stage than Arkansas. Clinton's involvement in the DLC notwithstanding...
The election of Governors in fact seems a trend to get away from known Senators and Washington DC....being "known" on the national scene being something of a liability it seems.

But all that would go out the window in a Clinton vs. Rudy match-up. Thats a showdown the media and everyone else would like to see.. What by the way, would be Hillary's qualifications for President? Being "first lady" ? :)

[T-Bird76]

I know allot of us don't care for Hilliary but her whether or not she runs in 08 I'd bet real money she'll be the first female President of this country. The one thing I'll say about her is her office responds to the concerns of her constituents. A few years ago when I had that run in at ISP her office was huge help in bringing about an official apology from Islip Town.

I'm not sure who I'd like to see up there for 08. I like Rudy but I feel its a Republican pipe dream, McCain is bright but a bit long in the years, Pataki is just Pataki. My feeling our next President is going to be more of and in-term President until the Republicans and Dems can put out a real power-player.

[Matt Molnar]

The one thing I'll say about her is her office responds to the concerns of her constituents. A few years ago when I had that run in at ISP her office was huge help in bringing about an official apology from Islip Town.

Of course they jumped on that... the "revolutionaries" love fighting the cops. :)

I've had one interaction with her office. I was planning a trip to DC a couple years ago, and I thought it would be cool to visit the White House. Since 9/11, tours of the White House now must be arranged through your local congressman or senator. I emailed Chuck "E. Cheese" Schumer: no response. I emailed Gary Ackerman: no response. I emailed Hillary Rodham: someone wrote me back requesting my info so they could check me out. I gave them what they wanted, and then, no response. I ended up not going to DC. :P

Should Hillary run for prez, I have an idea for a commercial that would pretty much shut her down. A video montage of the planes hitting the World Trade Center, footage of a fireman's funeral, the maimed bodies of dead suicide bomb victims, some snippets of terrorist speeches defaming America, and then conclude with that clip of Hillary hugging and kissing Yasser Arafat and his wife.

Unfortunately I don't think the RNC has the backbone to air such a commercial. I'll have to make it myself. :)