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The White House is now defending some of its talking points over how it will mark the tenth anniversary of September 11th, namely by minimizing references to Al Qaeda in an effort to show the terror group is increasingly less relevant. A former staffer of Vice President Dick Cheney spoke out against the move, saying “I think the fact that you would actually instruct government officials to speak differently about 9/11 simply based on where they’re standing is not just insulting to American audiences and to foreign audiences, but again I think its a little bit of a window into...

NO PATAKI: Former New York governor George Pataki won't run for president and has opted out of a scheduled event in Des Moines Saturday Former New York governor George Pataki has cancelled plans to attend a Polk County Republicans event in Des Moines Saturday, as he announces he won't seek the office of president. Pataki had been scheduled to speak at the Polk County Republicans summer picnic at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. Many expected Pataki to reveal he would run for president in 2012 at the picnic, but now sources close to him say he has decided against declaring as...

NEW YORK — The ceremony at the World Trade Center site marking the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks will be a solemn but stately event ... President Barack Obama and Bloomberg will be joined by the leaders in charge during the 2001 attacks, including former President George W. Bush, former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and former New York Gov. George Pataki. Current New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will also be there, he said.

George Pataki: ‘I’ll Certainly Feel Compelled To Run’ If No Strong Candidate Emerges Jillian Rayfield | June 23, 2011, 11:55AM Former New York Gov. George Pataki (R) may be getting closer to a run for president in 2012, saying Wednesday that if no candidate with a strong deficit-reduction plan emerges -- one who actually has a shot at beating President Obama -- then "I'll certainly feel compelled to take a look." In an interview with the Fiscal Times, Pataki said that the national debt is "if not the most important issue, then one of the two most important issues facing...

Sarah Palin isn’t the only former governor/former mayor who’s mulling a run for president in 2012. On ABC’s “Top Line” today, former Gov. George Pataki, R-N.Y., told us that – as Palin has said – he’ll run for president if he determines the other Republican candidates don’t offer the right kind of leadership going forward. “When you look back at the past two years, it's been very disappointing, not only -- not just for Republicans, but for the American people,” Pataki told us. “And I think it shows the importance of experienced leadership -- leaders who have shown the ability...

Buffalo - Here was Carl Paladino, marching around the state, promising bloody insurrection in Albany - and calling himself heir to the heroic Americans who killed Nazis and Taliban.

At the state level, governors like New York’s George Pataki and California’s Arnold Schwarzenegger pandered to government-employee unions and opened the spending spigots, to taxpayers’ ongoing horror. Other culprits include the state-level influence peddlers who seem more interested in cash than in free-market and conservative principles.New York ’s former U.S. senator Alfonse D’Amato is a perfect example of this breed. “Senator Pothole” personally discovered an obscure state senator, George Pataki, from Peekskill, N.Y. After being muscled through the state GOP convention, Pataki scored the party’s nomination and won the governorship in 1994. After some limited first-term tax cutting, Pataki’s spend-o-rama...

The appointment by New York Governor David Paterson of Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand to the vacant senate seat of Hillary Clinton raises serious questions surrounding the illegal dirty tricks employed to elect Gillibrand to Congress in the first place. In 2006 Governor George Pataki's Chief of Staff Zenia Mucha illegally obtained New York State Police records regarding a domestic dispute between then Congressman John Sweeney and his wife. The records were obtained by former State Police captain Daniel Wiese, who functioned as a dirty tricks operative for Pataki and later Governor Eliot Spitzer. Wiese was also the operative who pressured State...

Have politicians completely given up even pretending they have core personal beliefs? While it's reasonable to believe that over the course of a long career new information and new experiences may necessitate an occasional ideological adjustment; the wholesale changes on where some perpetual candidates stand from campaign to campaign has made the term flip--flopper a virtual given and woefully inadequate. A few years ago it was a wave of hope and change that made moderate seem like the way to go for many Republicans. Now a strong trend among the electorate toward conservatism and increased involvement by those who always...

Former Governor of New York Republican George Pataki could be eyeing a run for 2012. A New York GOP insider told me today that Mr. Pataki seems to be considering a presidential run. Mr. Pataki recently making it clear he would not be running against New York Democratic Senator Kirsten GIllibrand, though his poll numbers show he could have very well had a strong chance at taking her seat during this year's mid term elections.

Former New York Gov. George Pataki blasted the Bay State’s health care reform created under former Gov. Mitt Romney today, telling the Herald it’s “unconstitutional.” He also conceded that Romney is “probably the (Republican) front runner” in the 2012 presidential election. Pataki is in Boston on Sunday to kick off a nationwide effort to repeal President Obama’s health care reform. “I think the idea of what they call an individual mandate ... is not just wrong, in all likelihood it’s unconstitutional,” Pataki told the Herald in a telephone interview today. Romney has defended his plan, saying he was able to...

Former N.Y. Gov. Pataki Announces Plan to Repeal Health Care Law Former New York Gov. George Pataki announced Wednesday the creation of a national organization working to repeal the Democrats' health care overhaul, which he called a "horrific" and costly bungle. Former New York Gov. George Pataki announced Wednesday the creation of a national organization that will work to repeal the Democrats' health care overhaul, which he called a "horrific" and costly bungle. Pataki said his nonprofit group, Revere America, will develop a grassroots network and highlight national opposition to the health care law, which he believes will impose a...

Former New York Gov. George Pataki announced Wednesday the creation of a national organization that will work to repeal the Democrats' health care overhaul, which he called a "horrific" and costly bungle. Pataki said his nonprofit group, Revere America, will develop a grassroots network and highlight national opposition to the health care law, which he believes will impose a $500 billion burden on U.S. taxpayers and tighten government control of the health care system

The Wall Street Journal: I understand you made a decision about the Senate race and I was hoping you could talk to me a little bit about why you decided not to challenge Sen. [Kirsten] Gillibrand (D., N.Y.). George E. Pataki: I'm very excited about Revere America. This is a great group of people that I'm going to be working with and as I've said for some time, I do want to get more involved in the national political dialogue and I think this is the best way to do it. We're going to be kicking off the end of...

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is very popular in New York. Governor David Paterson and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand are not... and they're both up for re-election. Conventional wisdom has had it that Cuomo will run for one of their jobs: Paterson's. Amidst unsourced press reports that Cuomo would begin his campaign for governor sometime in March, Paterson even announced he would not be seeking re-election. But now March has come and just about gone, and there's no announcement. Cuomo, in fact, keeps insisting he's running for attorney general. But it's hard to believe the heretofore ruthless politician, suddenly lacks any ambition...

Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is losing out in the polls to an opponent who hasn't even announced his candidacy yet. "We'll see down the road," said Republican ex-governor George Pataki, when asked if he would vie for the seat. Marist College research shows Pataki beating the former upstate congresswoman by two percentage points, 47-45. As for job approval, a scant 27 percent of the electorate believe Gillibrand, who critics say fails to connect with voters, is doing good work, reports the Post.

A new Siena poll (810 RVs, 3/15-18, MoE +/- 3.4%) is the first in New York to test the potential Republican primary for governor between former Rep. Rick Lazio (R) and Steve Levy, the Suffolk County Executive and soon-to-be-former Democrat. Lazio leads Levy 45-16 in an initial test, with 40 percent undecided. When Republican voters are informed of Levy's political affiliation, Lazio's lead expands to 60-19, with 22 percent undecided. Democratic Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, meanwhile, continues to be the early heavy favorite to ultimately win the seat in November.

Former Gov. George Pataki, perhaps the most popular Republican in New York, is endorsing Rick Lazio in his GOP bid for governor this year. Pataki is scheduled to make the endorsement Wednesday afternoon in Manhattan. Lazio is a former congressman from Long Island who has collected endorsements from most Republican county chairmen and many Conservative Party leaders around the state. Lazio spokesman Barney Keller says Pataki's backing is another indication Lazio has support to, as he put it, sweep clean the dysfunction in Albany. Pataki, who retired as governor four years ago, is considering a run for the U.S. Senate...

Former governor of New York George Pataki visited the Washington Auto Show today and set an ambitious target during the morning's opening plenary session. How ambitious? Um, he called for electric vehicles (EVs) to grow to 40 percent of the new vehicle market by 2020. > Last week, it was announced that Pataki would lead a Next Generation Vehicles practice withing the international law firm of Chadbourne & Parke LLP. >

Could old George be the new Brown? A new Siena poll shows that former New York Gov. George Pataki, who left office with the popularity of week-old lox, would sweep past Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand by an impressive 51-percent-to-38-percent margin. The poll marks the first time any New York Senate candidate has broken through the magical 50 percent threshold — and also marks the first time Gillibrand, who was appointed by Gov. David Paterson a year ago, finds her disapprovals outpolling her positives.