Pataki launches longshot bid for GOP presidential nomination

George Pataki, arguably the longest of longshots among prominent Republican contenders, is running for president.

Pataki, 69, who served three terms as New York governor, launched his effort Thursday morning with a four-minute video.

“We are all in this together. And let us all understand that what unites us is so much more important than what might seem superficially to divide us,” he says. “If we are to flourish as a people we have to fall in love with America again."

He calls Washington “too big, too powerful, too expensive” and “exactly what the Founding Fathers feared.” He says his is not a partisan vision but “a vision about people.”

Pataki recalls the days after the Sept. 11, 2001, when people came together, and urges a revival of that national spirit. “We the people, not Washington, are equipped to lead this nation,” he says.

Pataki is hoping to do well in New Hampshire, the nation’s first primary state, as a center-right candidate. He’ll hold a rally later today in Exeter.

Pataki faces formidable odds. He won his last term as governor in 2002, and his more moderate positions are unlikely to win him a strong backing from an electorate dominated by conservatives. In a Fox News poll of Republicans earlier this month, he tied for 15th, with less than 1 percent.

This story was originally published May 28, 2015 at 8:54 AM with the headline "Pataki launches longshot bid for GOP presidential nomination."