Despite the fact that Rick Perry is now bringing his Texas gubernatorial swagger to the presidential race, conservatives still seem to want more new names to jump in the fray.
The names that most often come up in public discussions: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Sarah Palin, Rep. Paul Ryan (WI). The name that doesn’t: former New York Gov. George Pataki.
Guess which one is about to jump into the presidential race?
From the New York Daily News:
“Those close to the three-term former governor said he was expected to enter the race for President, though no date has been set.”
Pataki’s been making noises about jumping into the presidential race for months, first signalling his intentions to join the national political stage back during the battle over the national health care reform bill. In June, Pataki told reporters that he would jump in if no one else with a credible chance of winning comes along.
Perry, it seems, is not the candidate Pataki was looking for, and so we’re back to speculating about whether or not a man whose social views are so outside the GOP mainstream it’s impossible to imagine him winning his party’s presidential nomination will seek his party’s nomination anyway.
Here’s what Republicans in New York think of the idea, according to the Daily News:
“Among a lot of New York Republicans the general sense is that it doesn’t make sense,” a GOP insider said.
