If he's making progress, he's making progress digging out of a hole. But the problem is, he started with such a legacy of overspending and higher taxes. Conservatives welcome converts, but he has a lot to overcome.

He's such an insignificant player on the national stage, a plodding speech praising JFK and discovering tax cuts won't do much to enhance his stature.

If Pataki can craft a message that builds on this, then he has a story to tell. But the story has to have a happy ending.

Socialized medicine isn't good for patients' health or Hillary's political future.

It was a moment on the national stage for Pataki. And he can say that when an out-of-control, liberal union tried to shut down New York, he took a firm line.

You don't find much presidential timber in New York because the soil is polluted with machine politics. Unlimited incumbency and almost unlimited patronage breed grubby politicians. But Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani cut in line to win here without paying dues to the spoils system.

Rudy is definitely collecting some insider chits. But his problems remain at the grass roots. The rank-and-file Republicans who actually nominate candidates are much more conservative than Giuliani's record.

This soap opera has done nothing to erase Hillary Clinton's vulnerabilities. She starts with 30 percent who would vote against her, no matter what. That's a pretty high stepping off point for a challenger.

You always want to have an opposition figure that will galvanize your base, and Bush is that figure for Hillary.

Pataki might think ethanol will win him farm votes in Iowa. But when he's carrying the weight of his liberal views on abortion and gay rights, a boutique tax cut for alternative fuels won't put much in Pataki's tank for a presidential race.