GOP Clown Car Part 2: George Pataki

  I would include George Pataki in the Jim Gilmore WTF category. He seems to be running for a party that simply doesn't exist right now. George H. W. Bush was the last old school New England Republican to win the presidency, and he largely rode Reagan wave into the White House. Bush not only lost to a more dynamic Bill Clinton, but in a sign of things to come, was seen as not being conservative enough and was challenged from the right by Ross Perot. John McCain was forced to chose Sarah Palin over his bff Joe Lieberman to help with conservatives. Mitt Romney who had to completely reinvent himself because of what he did as governor of Massachusetts especially in the realm of healthcare - which was suddenly seen as  a negative in a post Obamacare race. Romney never seemed to comfortable as the conservative warrior and adding conservative superstar Paul Ryan didn't help.

  Pataki seems to be a better fit in the Massachusetts Romney mode of Republicanism. Very pro business and lower taxes and either more moderate on social issues or it's not the focus of what he wants to do in government. At the Reagan Library debate Pataki kept talking about the things he was able to do as governor of New York and was trying to play up his credentials as a true conservative. If you are Pataki all you have to do is look at the news from this past weekend about John Boehner being forced out of the House by the far right Tea Party movement simply for being more interested in doing the basic job of governing over what appears to be a plan to run the government into the ground. In a world where John Boehner is too soft or not conservative enough there is no way that Pataki is going to get a lot conservative love. I am not saying George Pataki is a horrible candidate for president, but like Romney, he is the wrong candidate for this version of the GOP. Romney won the nomination more because of positioning from 2008, money, and a comically bad 2012 field and he still ended up struggling for longer than he should have. Pataki had no chance from the start and now is more of a question when, not if, he will drop out. I will be surprised if he makes to the end of the year and seems to be the odds on favorite along with Bobby Jindal as the next to drop out.

  So given the fact that it appeared almost from the start that Pataki had little chance of getting anywhere in the nomination process and doesn't appear to be cashing in on the run - why is he running for president in 2016? He just seemed to completely misjudge the state of his party and a base that is more interested in anger and toughness than in accomplishments in blue state like New York. Firebrand Donald Trump is currently leading based on attitude more than anything else while several conservative but less combative candidates like Jeb! Bush and John Kasich are struggling and Scott Walker is out. Sounding like or trying to sound like reasonable guy in the room just doesn't seem to be working for these guys. Heck for all the kooky things Rand Paul has said, he does not have a chance of winning because he says things like maybe we shouldn't be in constant war with the Middle East. I am sure Pataki will still pop up on cable news from time to time as a talking head, but as far as his run for president - it seems more like a complete waste of time and money.