Pataki says he's seeking presidency

N.Y.’s ex-leader joins GOP field

Former New York Gov. George Pataki declares his candidacy for the GOP presidential nomination Thursday at the historic town hall in Exeter, N.H. Pataki is the eighth Republican to enter the race.
Former New York Gov. George Pataki declares his candidacy for the GOP presidential nomination Thursday at the historic town hall in Exeter, N.H. Pataki is the eighth Republican to enter the race.

EXETER, N.H. -- Former New York Gov. George Pataki -- a moderate Republican who led the state through the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks -- on Thursday formally began his bid for the presidency.

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In this Sept. 27, 2012 file photo, Donald Trump arrives for the opening ceremony at the Ryder Cup PGA golf tournament at the Medinah Country Club in Medinah, Ill.

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In this Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2014 photograph, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie addresses a gathering over the state's preparedness for Ebola treatment at Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, N.J.

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In this March 12, 2015 file photo, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington.

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In this Jan. 16, 2015, file photo, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley speaks with reporters during a roundtable interview at the Maryland State House in Annapolis, Md. O'Malley plans to announce his presidential intentions on May 30 in Baltimore.

Citing "the freedom that has given us the greatest country the world has ever known," Pataki told the 150 people gathered at the town hall in Exeter, N.H., that it was "to preserve and protect that freedom that this morning I announce that I am a candidate for the Republican nomination for president of the United States."

Earlier in the day, Pataki, 69, declared his candidacy in a YouTube video, set in a New York City skyscraper, and his rhetoric seemed to echo sentiments of the 9/11 aftermath.

"We are all in this together," he said. "And let us all understand that what unites us is so much more important than what might seem superficially to divide us."

Pataki had worked with federal and local officials to steady a devastated city. He quickly mobilized New York Army and Air National Guard troops. By the evening of Sept. 11, 2001, 750 troops had reported to armories in New York City to support the security and rescue efforts.

As governor, he said, "My vision was not a partisan vision, it was a vision about people, about what we could accomplish together.

"America has a big decision to make about who we're going to be and what we're going to stand for. The system is broken," Pataki said. "The question is no longer about what our government should do, but what we should do about our government, about our divided union, about our uncertain future."

Pataki, who has not held elected office since 2007, is the eighth Republican to enter the presidential race so far.

Pataki had flirted with a presidential candidacy three times before this year, raising money and meeting voters in early-voting states such as New Hampshire. But each time -- in 2000, 2008 and 2012 -- Pataki decided the moment wasn't right, and he never began a campaign.

But at Thursday's formal announcement in New Hampshire, Pataki said his time had come.

"I'm ready. I know that the need to change Washington is as big as it's been in my lifetime. I know the need to have a vision for the future of this country is absolutely essential. I have that vision. My life has prepared me for this moment," he said.

Pataki vowed to enact far-ranging changes in Washington, pointing to his record of attacking government spending and entrenched Democratic interests.

"After 12 years of my conservative policies [as governor], we replaced dependency with opportunity, resignation with hope, mere existence with dreams, a welfare check with a paycheck," Pataki said. "I know we can do the same thing for the United States."

More recently, he's campaigned against President Barack Obama's health care law and an executive order to offer protections against deportation to millions living in the country illegally.

In his announcement speech, Pataki also criticized Democratic candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton for claiming to represent aspirations of the middle class.

"We are the party of the middle class, unless by middle class they mean someone who left the White House dead broke and 10 years later had $100 million," he said of Bill and Hillary Clinton.

"That's their party's candidate. She speaks for the middle class? They are the party of privilege."

While Pataki did not describe himself as a centrist Thursday, Libby Pataki, his wife, called him a model for national Republicans.

"I think his message is where the Republican Party should be," she said in a brief interview. "He's a voice of moderation."

David Currier, a former New Hampshire state senator supporting Pataki, agreed, saying the New Yorker would appeal to voters turned off by rampant partisanship.

"We're frustrated with what's going on in Washington and what's going on, in some respects, with the Republican Party," Currier said.

But now that Pataki has entered the race, he must face the harsh reality his previous hesitation had allowed him to avoid.

"I understand I have a long uphill fight to even become the Republican nominee," he told NH1 News in a recent interview.

For one thing, he will enter an already crowded GOP field without the benefit of widespread name recognition. In January on the game show Jeopardy, three contestants were shown a photo of Pataki's face, but none could remember his name. Last month, when he shook hands with patrons at a Chipotle in New Hampshire, many said afterward that they had no idea who he was.

On Thursday, Libby Pataki acknowledged the challenge her husband faces in a field that includes sitting senators, several current and former governors, business leaders and a renowned neurosurgeon.

"Are we prepared for a struggle and an uphill battle?" she asked. "We are absolutely prepared to enter the fray and fight the good fight."

Report on Trump

In other news from the Republican Party, Donald Trump, the billionaire television personality, is set to make a major announcement June 16 at the Trump Tower in Manhattan, WMUR-TV reported Thursday.

The station cited a person close to Trump but said the person stopped short of saying outright that Trump will join the race for the GOP's presidential nomination.

In New Jersey, Republican Gov. Chris Christie -- who has said he will make a decision in June on whether to run for president -- announced Thursday that he is ordering his state to back away from the Common Core school standards that he once championed but that are hugely unpopular among conservative voters across the country.

"It's now been five years since Common Core was adopted. And the truth is that it's simply not working," Christie said in the speech at Burlington County College.

He said his state education commissioner would convene a group of parents and educators to review Common Core standards adopted in 2010. Their work is to become the basis for a new set of standards. Christie said the review would be completed this year.

Meanwhile, Sen. Lindsey Graham, who's likely to make his presidential candidacy official Monday, has announced he's retiring from the Air Force Reserve.

The South Carolina Republican has had a long Air Force career, including 6½ years on active duty in the 1980s. He's served in the Reserve since 1995, when he began his career in Congress. Graham noted that he turns 60 this summer, the mandatory retirement age for the Reserve.

In the Democratic Party, supporters of former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley announced Thursday the formation of a super political action committee to raise money to help his expected presidential campaign.

The creation of Generation Forward came two days before a scheduled news conference in Baltimore where O'Malley, the city's former mayor, is set to announce his plans for the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries.

Information for this article was contributed by David A. Fahrenthold, Jose A. DelReal and Paul Steinhauser of The Washington Post; by Holly Ramer, Geoff Mulvihill, Jill Colvin, Brian Witte and staff members of The Associated Press; by Alexander Burns of The New York Times; and by Emily Greenhouse of Bloomberg News.

A Section on 05/29/2015

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