George Pataki

Long Out Of Office Republican Presidential Contenders, Or Never In Office: A Record Number In History!

It is not totally uncommon for politicians who have left office to run for President years later.

Abraham Lincoln had not been in public office for 12 years, after serving one term in the House of Representatives, when he ran for and won the Presidency in 1860.

Richard Nixon had not been in public office for 8 years, although he ran for California Governor two years after leaving the Vice Presidency in 1960, and won the Presidency in 1968.

Ronald Reagan had not been in public office for 6 years, although he ran unsuccessfully for the Presidential nomination of his party two years after leaving the Governorship, and won the Presidency in 1980.

But now, in 2015, we have a whole slew of candidates out of public office for a long time.

Jeb Bush left the Florida Governorship in 2006, so it will be ten years since he held office.

Rick Santorum lost his Pennsylvania Senate seat in 2006, so it will be ten years since he held office, although he ran for the Presidential nomination of his party in 2012.

Mike Huckabee left the Arkansas Governorship in 2006, so it will be ten years since he held office, although he ran for the Presidential nomination of his party in 2008.

George Pataki left the New York Governorship in 2006, so it will be ten years since he held office.

Jim Gilmore left the Virginia Governorship in 2001, so it will be 15 years since he held office, although he ran briefly for the Presidential nomination of his party in 2008, and lost an attempt at a Senate race in 2008, as well.

Bob Ehrlich left the Maryland Governorship in 2006, so it will be ten years since he held office, although he ran for reelection in 2006 and lost, and tried again for the Governorship in 2010 and lost both times to Martin O’Malley.

This is a record number of candidates who have been out of office for so long, 10-15 years in duration.

Also, three candidates have NEVER held public office–Carly Fiorina, Dr. Benjamin Carson, and Donald Trump.

So NINE potential candidates out of what are now a potential 18-19 in total have long ago left office, or never held office!

Many Republican Presidential Possibilities Are Totally Delusional, And Need To Drop Out Or Not Enter, As They Are Harming The GOP!

Face the facts: Many of the Republican Presidential possibilities are totally delusional, and have no chance to be the Republican nominee or President of the United States!

They need to get out of the race, or not enter, as they are harming the GOP, and making the party the laughing stock of the nation and of the party’s history!

Those announced candidates who need to drop out are: Carly Fiorina and Dr. Benjamin Carson, who together have ZERO government experience, and we are not about to elect a President who has no concept of government, other than what he or she reads in the newspapers or sees on cable. Being a corporate leader or a medical doctor, with no other experience, is disqualifying on its head!

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who has gone out of his way to divide the American people and promote hate in the name of religion, and has no chance to win a national election.

The following unannounced possible Presidential candidates also need to decide NOT to enter the race:

Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, former Texas Governor Rick Perry, and Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, who have governed their states in a horrific and corrupt manner, undermining the needs of the population of their states, with Perry indicted and Christie facing the threat of an indictment.

Businessman Donald Trump, who has no ability to govern, again having never served in government, and whose mouth gets him into trouble daily.

Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, who also offers nothing positive to the race except his own nuttiness and divisiveness, and has zero chance to be the nominee.

United States Senators may be loony and extreme, but they do less harm than Governors who have failed their state populations and led corrupt governments, as is the case with Jindal, Christie and Perry.

So who is left in the race who seems legitimate to run, although most will never win a national election?

Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina; Senator Marco Rubio of Florida; Senator Ted Cruz of Texas; Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky; Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush; Ohio Governor John Kasich; and for good measure although it seems he will not run, former Utah Governor and Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman!

This makes for a reasonable number of candidates as seven to eight who have serious potential, and elimination of eight others who are going nowhere in the Presidential race, and should stop wasting our time.

And anyone else, such as Indiana Governor Mike Pence and former New York Governor George Pataki–just forget it! Do not waste our time and yours!

The Republican Presidential Circus—22 Potential Nominees May Compete In The 2016 Caucuses And Primaries!

The Republican Party is a true circus, with a new potential number of people announcing for President numbering TWENTY TWO—Yes, TWENTY TWO!

If that happens, the debates that will take place in the next year will be a true mockery, a true example of total loss of any respectability of the political process, and will insure that the Republican Party will go down to defeat, probably with a greater electoral vote loss than in 2012, and possibly, greater than 2008! The 206 electoral votes won by Mitt Romney and the 173 won by John McCain might be lower than either number!

The whole idea that TWENTY TWO possible candidates think they are qualified to be President is beyond any reason.

The traditional list that has been drawn up includes:

Senators Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Lindsey Graham

Former Senator Rick Santorum

Governors Scott Walker, Chris Christie, Bobby Jindal, Mike Pence, Rick Snyder, John Kasich

Former Governors Jeb Bush, Mike Huckabee, Rick Perry

Pediatric Surgeon Dr. Benjamin Carson

Former Hewlett Packard Chief Executive Officer Carly Fiorina

Now add: former New York Governor George Pataki, Businessman Donald Trump, former UN Ambassador John Bolton; New York Congressman Peter King; former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore; former Maryland Governor Bob Erhlich

The potential for such chaos will totally turn off voters, all to the advantage of the Democratic Party!

The Phenomenon Of Retread Politicians Who Look For Publicity, Relevance, And The Presidency!

The recent comments of former New York City Mayor Rudy Guiliani wondering if Barack Obama loves America, causing a firestorm of criticism and putting potential Republican Presidential candidates on the spot as to what to respond to these comments, reminds us that America has a list of retread politicians, many of whom have been out of public office for very long periods of time, but feel a need to look for publicity and relevance, and want to be President.

Guiliani has been out of office since 2001, and flopped badly when he tried for the Presidential nomination of his party in 2008.

But now we have “retread” politicians who wish to be President, after long periods of not having run for office, including Jeb Bush, Rick Santorum, Mike Huckabee, and even, possibly, former New York Governor George Pataki, although no one takes that seriously.

The question is whether being out of the loop for nearly a decade or more causes voters to wonder about their viability, and the upcoming Republican Presidential race will test that matter.

One Of The Last True Liberals, Mario Cuomo, Passes From The Scene On New Year’s Day!

Former three term New York Governor Mario Cuomo, one of the last true liberals in American politics, passed from the scene yesterday, New Year’s Day, just as his son, Andrew Cuomo, was inaugurated for his own second term as Governor of New York.

Mario Cuomo was a dynamic, charismatic, inspiring political figure, who flirted with the idea of running for President in 1988 and 1992, but ended up not running. He also was the front runner for a Supreme Court nomination by President Bill Clinton in 1993, but turned it down, in favor of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and ran, instead, for a fourth term as Governor, but losing to George Pataki in 1994.

Cuomo was, without any question, the second greatest Italian American political figure in American history, only surpassed by New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia (1934-1945), and he will be much missed, as he was a rarity in politics–a truly decent, principled politician who cared about the poor and the oppressed of all races, both in New York and nationwide!

The Decline Of The New York State Government And Governorship!

New York State, the “Empire State”, is a victim of government decline in so many ways.

This was the state that gave us Presidential candidates in Alfred E. Smith, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Thomas E. Dewey, and potential Presidential candidates in Averell Harriman, Nelson Rockefeller, Mario Cuomo, and George Pataki.

But now, we have had Eliot Spitzer, forced out of office by a sex scandal, and Andrew Cuomo, subject of an ethics investigation, who has displayed arrogance and entitlement about his control of who can investigate him, which has now blown up in his face.

Ironically, Cuomo seems an easy winner for his second term, but could be forced out of office during the next term, reminiscent of the circumstances of President Richard Nixon, who won easy reelection while under investigation, and then was forced to resign in disgrace.

This will end any hope that Cuomo could ever run for the Presidency, if for instance, Hillary Clinton chose not to run.

Having said that as reality, this author wishes to state that he has always had an uneasy feeling about Cuomo, over many years. It is something hard to pinpoint, but this blogger always liked Mario Cuomo, Andrew’s dad, but never felt comfortable with his son, even though he resembles him a lot in speaking manner and appearance!

How The Republican Party Has Gone Wrong: Lincoln Chafee’s View

Rhode Island Independent Governor Lincoln Chafee is a former moderate Republican Senator, whose father, John Chafee, was Governor as a Republican from 1963-1969; Secretary of the Navy under President Richard Nixon from 1969-1972; and Senator from 1976 to 1999 when he passed away.

Both Chafees were mainstream Republicans, and the younger Chafee became an independent after losing his Senate seat in 2006.

Chafee is dismayed that even Northeastern and New England Republicans have moved to the right, and he mentions Mitt Romney, who has been trying to change his image from what it was before 2006; former New York City Mayor Rudy Guiliani; former New York Governor George Pataki; and even, outside the Atlantic coast, Senator John McCain of Arizona–all of whom he says have lost their principles due to ambitions and desires for higher office.

National ambitions have caused these men to become chameleons, who cannot be believed, as they change their beliefs and principles, and therefore are “completely different” from what they once were.

Realize how troubling this statement by Chafee is, that it indicates no one can trust that any politician believes what he advocates, if he can advance by compromising his principles and appealing to those who are really the enemies of everything he once believed in!

When, oh when, will we have candidates for public office and the Presidency who stick to their convictions, “come hell or high water”?

When will candidates stop appealing to the extremes and go toward where most voters are, in the center, as Lincoln Chafee has done, and should be commended for?

The Republican Center Trying To Save The Republican Party With New Yorkers George Pataki And Rudy Guiliani?

What remains of the Republican Center–what the author would call the Rockefeller-Bush wing of the party–is exasperated by the Republican Presidential contenders!

They are not happy with Mitt Romney, and wonder if Jon Huntsman can become a major factor, although Huntsman is starting to get noticed and being more aggressive in his criticism of the far Right trend of the party.

So as a result, speculation is growing that former New York Governor George Pataki and or former NYC Mayor Rudy Guiliani may enter the race very soon, with both not discouraging mention of their names.

Pataki is the new face on the block, as Guiliani is famous or infamous for his total collapse during the 2008 Presidential campaign.

But both of them have major problems in being accepted by the GOP primary and caucus electorate. They are simply too “liberal” on social issues, including abortion, gay rights, and union rights. In the party of Chris Christie, Scott Walker, Rick Scott, John Kasich, Rick Snyder, Paul LePage, John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Mitch McConnell, Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, et al, how could they possibly win the Republican nomination for President?

Ironically, were they to win, they would have a real chance of defeating President Obama, but the road to the nomination just simply seems impossible.

It is, however, a sign of the recognition by the Bush-Rockefeller wing of the party that the future of the Republicans is clouded, indeed, unless they come to their senses and go toward the center, where the general electorate is!

The New York Political Scene And Barack Obama’s Intervention

New York is a strongly Democratic state, with all but two Congressmen now being Democrats, and two Democratic senators and a Democratic governor.

But New York has been tormented by controversy–first with former Governor Eliot Spitzer being forced out of office because of a sex scandal involving a prostitute; then the controversy over the replacement of Hillary Clinton in her Senate seat; and then with the quick rapid collapse of public opinion around Governor David Paterson, who succeeded Spitzer when he resigned.

Paterson has come across as inept and ineffective in the Governorship in the nearly 18 months he has been Governor, and there is real concern that the Democrats could lose both the Governor’s office and the Senate seat of Kirsten Gillibrand, Hillary Clinton’s appointed successor, in 2010.

The loss of the Governorship could hurt some Congressmen state wide as well, and that could affect reapportionment of seats both in the House of Representatives and in the state legislature, if the GOP wins control of the State Senate, which they briefly controlled this past summer when a couple of Democrats briefly switched parties before going back to the party that elected them. The state legislature came across as totally inept and chaotic, and New York does not present a very impressive image right now, which is an embarrassment to many who regard New York as one of the premier states of the Union.

The danger is that it is likely that former Mayor Rudy Guiliani may challenge Governor Paterson, and in any poll, wins over the governor, who only has in most polls about a 20 percent rating. Also, the possibility exists that former Governor George Pataki may challenge Senator Gillibrand, and has a lead in polls on that race.

This situation would greatly change if Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, son of the former governor Mario Cuomo, and very popular in all polls, was to be the nominee for Governor. The belief is that if he was the nominee and did not have to deal with a divisive primary race against Paterson, that he could beat any opponent, and that Guiliani might not even run if Cuomo was known to be his opponent. Also, Cuomo could help Gillibrand, and might convince Pataki not to run for the Senate, and hopefully, most of the congressional seats and state legislative seats would be safe, as well.

So the fact that there has been pressure from the Obama Administration for Paterson NOT to run may be embarrassing, but makes sense for the long term future of the Democrats in New York and nationally. The hope is that Governor Paterson will see the handwriting on the wall and will withdraw from a race for election, and maybe end up with some position that President Obama can offer him in 2011.