Pataki Plays to Rumors He Could Be Bush’s Pick

New York Gov. George Pataki set off on what was supposed to be a low-profile tour of California on Thursday, but was engulfed in the buzz over whether George W. Bush might pick him as his running mate.

The Republican governor best known for toppling a Democratic Party icon, his predecessor Mario M. Cuomo, faced groups of several hundred Republicans with the same question on their minds: Could Pataki be the guy?

At a breakfast at the Beverly Hills Hotel, Rosalie Zalis, a onetime aide to former Gov. Pete Wilson, was the first to broach the topic. “Many people are talking about two Georges, two big-state governors, changing their addresses to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.,” she said.

“I hate to disappoint you on two Georges on the ticket,” Pataki responded. “But neither George Allen [of Virginia] nor George Voinovich [of Ohio] are still governors. So you can’t have two Georges and two governors if George Bush picks either one of them.”

Pataki, who met with the Texas governor last week, has given Bush’s presidential campaign a stack of tax returns and medical records for a background check.

But many Republicans view him as a long shot, mainly because of his support for abortion rights, which could harm Bush among conservatives.

And unlike some other Republican contenders for vice president, such as Pennsylvania Gov. Thomas J. Ridge, Pataki would face an uphill fight in helping Bush to carry his own state. Democrats outnumber Republicans, 5 to 3, in New York, the second-largest state after California. Ronald Reagan in 1984 was the last Republican presidential candidate to win New York.

Still, on the first day of Pataki’s California tour--planned months ago to raise about $250,000 for Republican state Assembly candidates--it seemed at times as if he was rehearsing for a spot on the national ticket.

“George Bush is looking to lead and inspire America. Al Gore is looking to frighten and scare America,” Pataki told members of the Lincoln Club of Orange County, a Republican group, at a Newport Beach luncheon.

Pataki touted Bush’s plans for a missile defense system, education reforms and a Social Security overhaul, criticizing Gore for dismissing them as “risky schemes.”

But Pataki took pains to be discreet in answering questions about the vice presidency.

“I’m not speculating on what may or may not happen, or what I may or may not do if something may or may not have happened, or might happen, in the future or in the past, or even right now,” he told reporters.

But Pataki, in his speeches, reeled off his accomplishments as though reading his resume, saying he restored the death penalty, cut taxes and reduced state welfare rolls by more than 800,000.

He also took several swipes at Cuomo, his longtime rival, describing New York under Democratic rule as the “Cadillac of welfare states,” with high crime and high taxes. Pataki asked former New Yorkers at the Newport Beach luncheon to raise their hands. “It’s safe--you can come back,” he told them. “Mario Cuomo is gone.”

In a telephone interview, Cuomo offered a taste of possible attacks against Pataki by the Gore campaign. Cuomo said it was former New York Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller and his fellow Republicans who imposed many of the taxes that Pataki cut.

“George Pataki did one thing well: he picked the right time to be governor. It’s the best economy in modern history, and he had nothing to do with it,” Cuomo said.