Does George Pataki want to be a US Senator?

Right now, New York state politics is all about desire.

You have long-shot candidates (David Paterson, Rick Lazio, Harold Ford Jr.) scrapping hard for a political future.

And you have incredibly strong, favored-to-win candidates (Rudy Giuliani, George Pataki, Andrew Cuomo) sitting like big dogs on the porch.

The question is simple: Are they waiting for their moment, or are they sitting this one out?

Giuliani has made his future clear: he’s out.

Cuomo is sending a lot of signals that say pretty clearly: he’s in.

But the Cuomos have a history of surprising everyone by not running.

As a single guy dating Sandra Lee, a star of the Food Network, does he want to enter the voracious, tabloid frenzy of Albany politics?

(And does he want to wade into the fray at a time when the Empire state is awash in red ink?)

Also on the fence is George Pataki, a moderate Republican with a weirdly mixed record as governor.

He was incredibly popular in the North Country, but his tenure angered a lot of conservatives.

He used taxpayer money to buy massive amounts of land in the Adirondacks; and his spending plans contributed mightily to the budget woes in Albany.

But Republicans would give a lot to win back a New York Senate seat.

Indeed, that kind of victory might seal the deal on a new GOP majority.

Right now polls show that Pataki would beat incumbent Kirsten Gillibrand by 6%, according to a new Siena poll.

That’s not a definitive lead, but it’s a great place for a Republican to start a race in New York.

So what’ll it be? It comes down to desire.

Does he want to be back in the game, dealing with a GOP movement that has moved steadily to the right?

Or is he — like Giuliani — happy to watch from the sidelines?

Tags: election10