Posted on 08/13/2006 10:46:46 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
ANKENY, Iowa - Republicans can avert a disastrous midterm election this fall by returning to basic conservative themes that set them apart from Democrats, New York Gov. George Pataki said Saturday.
"There will be a lot of change between now and November," Pataki said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I understand that it will be a tough year, but we have to get back to focusing on what Republicans stand for."
Pataki was visiting Iowa, where he campaigned and raised money for legislative candidates, and tested the waters for a possible bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008.
As he courted local activists, Pataki sought to counter what many see as his biggest weakness — the perception that he's a northeastern moderate in a state where the Republican Party is distinctly conservative.
Meeting with hard-core GOP activists, Pataki's theme was anything but moderate, and he said revelations of a foiled terror plot in Britain this week underscore just how quickly the political climate can change.
"National security matters are foremost right now given the events of this week, but we also have to have a strong domestic agenda and I'm confident we can go into November with one," Pataki said.
Most polls in recent months have contained sour news for Republicans, with most voters saying they are unhappy with the war in Iraq and President Bush. That's led to speculation that Democrats could grab control of Congress, a shift that would greatly complicate Bush's last two years as president.
While Republicans must offer a broader agenda, Pataki said national security will be a major issue in the election, and he said Republicans have a clear edge on that issue.
"We just saw two days ago the fact that terrorists are still out there actively plotting and trying to kill thousands of people and attack us again," Pataki said. "I think the American people know that the Republicans have a better approach to protecting us."
Pataki's latest visit to Iowa also was an effort to hone a political organization he's beginning to build in the state. Former Gov. Terry Branstad introduced him, and touted his rural New York roots.
"Even though he's the governor of New York, he's a farm kid," Branstad said.
Also at Pataki's side was former Senate Republican Leader Stewart Iverson, who has signed on as a $5,000-a-month political consultant.
In building his organization, Pataki has focused on low-key retail politics that resonates in a small and largely rural state like Iowa.
"This reminds me of most of the races I've run," he said. "I ran for the Statehouse four times and I was mayor of my home town, which is significantly smaller than Ankeny. I've done this my whole political career."
Ankeny, a town of nearly 30,000 people, is just north of Des Moines in central Iowa.
Pataki's visit came as other potential candidates in both parties stepped up their focus on Iowa's leadoff caucuses. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich joined Gov. Tom Vilsack at the Iowa State Fair, while Delaware Sen. Joe Biden spent the day stumping for legislative candidates.
Next week, Sen. Evan Bayh (news, bio, voting record), D-Ind., Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz., Republican Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, Sen. Sam Brownback (news, bio, voting record), R-Kan., and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., all have visits scheduled to Iowa.
So Pataki has morphed back into a conservative for the election season?
LOL.. Mothman.
The guv might have added, turn back to conservatism for the election and then STAY THERE!!! I'm afraid the Republicrats have lost large numbers by their leftist drift.
Forget it, it's too late.
That's rich. A Rino like Pataki wants to "get back to basics". What a farce!
>Forget it. It's too late.<
As long as we have breath can it be too late? The indicators truly are all there that the coup has been accomplished, I grant you. Even this morning in an obit notice proudly declared that the deceased had long been a member of the Communist party, working up through the ranks to become the chairwoman of a SW city's Communist party! That used to be something kept underground, and now it openly proclaimed as a tribute! May God have mercy on us for allowing such an evil to take over the New Jerusalem!
Sorry, I wish it wasn't so, but it's too late for this November. The House and perhaps the Senate is going to go to the socialists.
Get used to it.
It didn't have to happen. If the GOP had stuck to its 1994 Contract they would have largely eliminated the Defeatocrat Party as a competitor.
But they tried to outspend the Dims and completely ignored the border issue. Now they are going to pay.
That's a sad fact.
>Get used to it.<
NEVER!
Basically, Pataki is looking at a run for the Presidency himself. So he's running to the right, knowing full well that his liberal/RINO northeastern politics doesnt fare so well in flyover country.
If, IF he were to be elected to the Presidency (God forbid), he would revert back to the liberal he always was.
Perception?!?
SNORT.
Most cities in New York continue losing population, Census Bureau reports
...driving people and businesses OUT of the state.
Fixed.
Liberal RINO Pataki has some nerve to talk about "returning to Conservative values." Do as I say, not as I do.
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