Pataki's campaign started off as a long shot campaign. As the campaign move forward it failed to catch fire. Nationally he often polled below 1% and in New Hampshire where he focused most of his time and campaign operations at he polled at or below 1%.
Pataki views did not align well with the base of the Republican Party. He is a moderate from New York who supported abortion rights and often talked about environmental issues and global warming. He failed to make any of the prime time debates and once did not even qualify for the under card debate.