A Pataki Comeback?
Tags: George Pataki, Kirsten Gillibrand, marist poll, U.S. Senate
Back in February, I blogged about reports that former governor George Pataki had been approached about running for the U.S. Senate. This idea was mocked by one local left-wing blogger, who said that he could state with confidence that “no one has any fear of Pataki running for statewide office,” and refered to Pataki as “damaged goods.”
Well, today, there is plenty of reason for the left to have fear of a Pataki run for the U.S. Senate. A new Marist poll from last week found the former governor of the Empire State would beat Senator Kirsten Gillibrand 48% to 44% in a hypothetical match-up. Her own approval rating is at 26 percent. With 2010 looking more like it’s going to be a particularly devastating election year for Democrats, it isn’t hard to imagine that Pataki will break 50 percent in a future poll. Which will hopefully send him the message that he needs to run.
And, let’s be honest here, in a match-up between Kirsten Gillibrand and George Pataki, it is David Paterson’s appointee that is the damaged goods.
Matt Margolis is co-author (with Mark Noonan) of Caucus of Corruption: The Truth About The New Democratic Majority. He also blogs at Blogs For Victory. Follow Matt on Twitter.
Hey, thanks for the link! Not.
But seriously, Pataki was governor from 1995 – 2006. The state of the state became worse and worse throughout that period of time. He was a weak, ineffective, and feckless governor.
But you tout his “comeback” because what – because he has an (R) at the end of his name.
Also, yes – Pataki having been governor for 10 years means he has more name recognition by far as compared with Gillebrand, who has held statewide federal office for a couple of months.
[...] ahoy! Pataki to make a political comeback! Why, that Pundit fella must be out of his mind to think that Pataki’s damaged goods! Gosh, [...]
Whoa, wait a minute! There is no one more against anything to do with Pataki, he WAS the worst (R) Governor we’ve had since Rocky, but give this guy (our blogger host) a little credit…
It IS interesting how damaged goods at one point in time can look, by comparison, not-so-bad afterall at a later date. With the high quality individuals offered up by either party, I find it interesting that yesterday’s trash can be tomorrow’s treasure (well, I’m not sure I’d take it that far).