Former New York Governor George Pataki
on Thursday announced his bid for the Republican presidential
nomination.
Announcing his presidential bid in New
Hampshire, Pataki acknowledged the steep incline he faces, saying
that he beat the odds when he knocked off Democratic icon Mario Cuomo
in his first run for governor in New York in 1994.
“No one had heard of me … I was a
Republican in deep blue New York,” the told CNN. “It took me
months to get a crowd like this, to go anywhere in New York, to think
I had a chance. But you work hard, you have the right ideas and over
time convince people that you are the person to lead the country.”
“I have always started at the bottom.
I think it is the best way to do it. You appreciate something more
when you earn it,” he added.
In a four-minute announcement video,
Pataki said: “If we are to flourish as a people, we have to fall in
love with America again.”
In an ad that began airing in mid-April
in New Hampshire, Pataki said that issues such as terrorism and the
economy trump social issues such as “abortion and gay rights.”
Pataki, who signed a gay protections
bill as governor, has previously said that the issue of marriage
should be left up to the states. His personal position on marriage
equality remains unclear.