Pataki faces tough odds in Iowa against better-known candidates

George Pataki will have to answer tough questions on the road through Iowa.

Primary among them: Who is George Pataki?

The Republican former governor of New York, who announced his candidacy for president Thursday, has been out of the public spotlight for almost a decade after serving three terms. He barely registers on Quinnipiac University's latest poll of Republican voters.

"I really think Iowans don't know who he is," said Kedron Bardwell, chairman of the political science department at Simpson College in Indianola. "And I'm not sure he cares who we are."

So far, Pataki has played it light in Iowa, spending two days here this year for GOP cattle call events. He has not committed to attending the Iowa Straw Poll. Bardwell questioned whether Iowa will even be part of Pataki's campaign strategy going forward.

As a moderate Republican who favors gun control and environmental reforms, Pataki's brand of Republican is unlikely to resonate as strongly with more conservative Iowa caucusgoers, Bardwell said.

Pataki also has spent more days in New Hampshire, which is more moderate and holds the nation's first presidential primary. His formal presidential announcement was made in Exeter, N.H. A Pataki super PAC opened an office in the state in April.

"Given his name recognition in the Northeast, he may try a New Hampshire-and-beyond strategy," Bardwell said, "which is a disadvantage, because you're not showing your ability to coalesce all parts of the party behind you."

Pataki will have to spend more time showing voters what he's about and what his key issues are, Bardwell said.

While at the GOP Lincoln Dinner in Des Moines earlier this month, Pataki touted his ability to lead in "the deepest blue state" and still cut government waste.

"When I left office (in New York) we had 25,000 fewer state workers — a 15 percent reduction," he said. "The government worked better, and so would Washington."

Pataki proposed reducing the federal workforce by 15 percent and rebuilding the U.S. tax code from scratch. He has said he would put troops on the ground in Iraq to fight the Islamic State.

Marshall Critchfield, chairman of the Jasper County Republican Central Committee, hosted a meeting with party members and Pataki while the former governor was in town for that dinner.

"He's a likeable guy, and I think that will go a long way on the campaign trail," Critchfield said. "Pataki has a calmness about him that I found appealing, and though it's early in the process, he doesn't seem to exhibit that same defensive shield we've all seen with presidential candidates in the past."

Critchfield said if Pataki talked more openly in Iowa about gun-control issues, it would likely hurt his chances here, but could help him pick up a more moderate crowd moving forward.

Ryan Frederick, Adair County Republican Central Committee chairman, said he thinks Pataki's leadership after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks helps set him apart from other candidates. Pataki was serving his second term as governor when the World Trade Center in New York City was hit by suicide attackers.

"I don't think we've got anybody else in the race right now who can say they were directly involved with that at the time," Frederick said.

Frederick noted that other long-shot candidates have been able to come from behind in Iowa, but it will require that Pataki invest the time and effort in campaigning across the state.

"We want people to come here and tell us what you've done," he said. "Tell us what you've accomplished."