Pataki sighting...I'm the only one who noticed

I recently saw former New York Governor George Pataki wandering around in the Atlanta airport. He was there with one bodyguard, and it was clear that no one else there had any idea who he was.

I couldn't help but think, as Pataki went into the newsstand and bought a paper without so much as a raised eyebrow from anyone around him, that there is no way this man has a shot at the 2008 Republican nomination, much less the White House. I don't pretend that the test of public recognition means a whole lot at this stage of the game, but it's clear that Clinton, Obama, McCain or Giuliani would cause quite a stir in any public airport in America.

Pataki has an uphill battle for a multitude of reasons, and I'm not sure he's really going to fight it. A recent poll gave him a whopping five percent support in New York among likely Republican primary voters. The fact that everyone knows who he is here must have helped somewhat, because he drew just one percent in this recent poll in Iowa. Time to ride off into the sunset, George.