CONCORD, N.H. — If you sit at the bar at the Barley House, a presidential candidate might just walk past you.
On Thursday afternoon, after I reported on Jeb Bush’s filing for the New Hampshire primary, I was writing a column at the bar, when who walked in but my former governor and current Republican presidential candidate George Pataki. None of the bar patrons or the staff noticed. Pataki sat down in the dining room and enjoyed his lunch. He also agreed to talk to me for 10 minutes after lunch.
Here’s a partial transcript of our interview:
How would you beat Hillary?
I got elected three times as a Republican governor, a conservative Republican governor … in New York state — a state with 3 million more Democrats. You have to appeal to Republican voters, you have to appeal to Democrats, and then even to some conservative, intelligent Democrats. That’s what I was always able to do.
What would you do about immigration?
We shouldn’t be taking any Syrian refugees at this point. It is just too much of a risk. We know that refugees who have come in in the past have been arrested for supporting terrorist groups and planning terrorist attacks. And it’s impossible to vet the Syrian refugees. There’s no place to check …
We have to control our borders. We have to end sanctuary cities … For those who are here — I think Trump’s idea is ridiculous. And it’s beyond ridiculous when he talks about taking American citizens — kids who were here nine, 10, 11, 12 years ago, and have never left country, and we’re gonna deport them as well. On the other hand, we have to uphold the rule of law. And when the first action somebody takes is to break the law, it sends the wrong message …
I would make people who have been here for a period of time, who have not been dependent on government, who have not been charged with a crime work to pay taxes, to come forward, to acknowledge that they broke the law, and if they do it again, they’ll be immediately deported. And that they are prepared to perform 200 hours of community service … And if they do that, I would give them legal status, but not a path to citizenship.
What is the biggest problem facing the GOP?
I think we get distracted by issues that the Democrats trap us on. The American people agree with us — Washington is too big, to powerful, too expensive, too intrusive. They agree with us that the tax burden is too high. They agree that Washington’s heavy hand is hurting us …
Democratic traps — for example: for 40 years, Republicans always get into an aggressive debate with Democrats over abortion. We have not changed the law, because you cannot change the law unless the Supreme Court changes its opinion, or unless we pass a constitutional amendment that has been ratified by three-quarters of the states. What the Democrats do is they’ll come up with a straw issue … and use it to distract us because on national security they are wrong, on the size of the federal government they are wrong, on taxes they are wrong, on immigration they are wrong, on the economy they are wrong, and when we focus on these issues, we’re going to win these race.
Were you a fiscally conservative governor?
Over my 12 years as governor, I had the fifth-lowest rate of spending increase of any state in America, and that in my second term being overridden …
By the way, we cut taxes by $143 billion, more than everybody in this race combined …
What about economic development aid?
As a governor, you have to compete with other states, and we were on the verge of losing the Buffalo Bills, and not to a free-market rival, but to communities that would have put a lot more money than we did into landing an NFL team.
It was absolutely critical to the people of Western New York, and I’m proud that we helped to renovate the stadium …
Does that argument apply to sugar subsidies and Export-Import Bank?
“I don’t know that there are foreign subsidies for sugar. I don’t think it’s right that we are highly protectionist when it comes to sugar …
“Export-Import Bank — I would have not abolished it, I would have reformed it to only allow financing when we were competing against government financing on the other side. There I think it’s a legitimate case if Boeing wants to sell an airplane to Country X, and they’re competing with an airline-building company that is offering as part of the deal very, very low financing to make it more attractive — government financing — then to lose that contract to me doesn’t make sense. But I wouldn’t do it except in those cases that it’s clear that government financing on the other side created a competitive disadvantage for an American company.”
How are you going to get above your low poll showings?
“I think we are going to see people … as we get closer, say, ‘Who can actually win?’ And I look at the frontrunners right now, and I can virtually guarantee you they’re not going to be President of the United States. And I know that if I get the nomination, I will win this race. I’ve proven my ability to appeal to a very broad electorate.”
Timothy P. Carney, The Washington Examiner’s senior political columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]. His column appears Tuesday and Thursday nights on washingtonexaminer.com.
