Reisman: Running for president & coming up short
Running for president is a little bit like the stages of grief.
You don't just announce, "Hey America, I'm running for president!" It's a laborious process, which begins with denial and ends with acceptance.
George Pataki exemplifies this perfectly.
The former New York governor told Fox News on Sunday that he is "seriously" looking at the idea of running for president. This is either the second or third time in the last month that he has said this — and yet he still can't get his name on most of the political blogs listing the 20 or so Republicans who are also "seriously" exploring the idea of reaching for the brass ring.
Here are the 10 steps for running for president. (With great credit going to Mike Edelman, who once ran for Congress, was a political consultant and therefore is an expert on these sorts of things.)
Step 1. "I am not running for president."
Step 2: "I will be appearing at Barnes & Noble to sign copies of my new book, 'Profiles in Possible Hard Choices,' which outlines how I'd save America's middle class if I were president, but I am not running for president."
Step 3: "I have no plans to run for president."
Step 4: "I currently have no plans to run for president, but I am leaving the door open."
Step 5: "I am seriously considering forming a committee to explore running for president."
Step 6: "I have formed an exploratory committee to possibly run for president."
Step 7: "I am having lunch with Mitt Romney."
Step 8: "I am being urged by many people to run for president."
Step 9: "I am seriously thinking about running."
Step 10: "My fellow Americans, today I am announcing my candidacy for president of the United States."
Pataki is somewhere between Steps 3 and 6. He said he planned to visit New Hampshire on Tuesday to "lay out his ideas" with the citizenry who should be in a pretty good mood since the Patriots won the Super Bowl. But that's a tough crowd up there.
It's safe to say that Pataki, who was mayor of Peekskill, is a long shot — not that being mayor of Peekskill, mind you, has anything to do with his chances.
I hate to put a damper on his enthusiasm, but he might be too tall to be president. Pataki stands 6 feet, 5 inches.
This puts him in a class of especially tall men who wanted to be president, but (pardon the pun) fell short. That includes the late Mo Udall, a congressman from Arizona, and former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley. Both Bradley and Udall were 6-foot-5 and, for what it's worth, pretty good basketball players.
John Kerry is 6 feet, 4 inches tall, and he lost the presidency to a shorter man, George W. Bush, who is 5 feet, 11 inches.
Abraham Lincoln was a shade under 6-foot-4. He holds the record which, like the great DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak, may never be broken.
Since February is President's Month, it might be appropriate to mention the dimensions of other commanders in chief. So I contacted William Reynolds, who lives in Ossining and knows more presidential trivia than anyone I know.
Reynolds emailed his list of all the presidential 6 footers, excluding Lincoln. Here it is verbatim:
"LBJ was 6'3"; Jefferson was 6'21/2", Washington, Arthur, FDR, George H.W. Bush and Clinton were all 6'2"; Obama is 6'11/2" tall; Jackson and Reagan were 6'1"; The following were all 6'0" tall: Monroe, Tyler, Buchanan, Garfield, Harding, JFK and Ford. The shortest was Madison at 5'4". Do you want more?"
No!
Pataki has flirted with a presidential run in the past. Indeed, back in 2006, he trekked to Iowa where he attended a fundraiser in Sioux City. The local paper, the Sioux City Journal, reported the following: "Many of the three dozen people attending the fundraiser raved at Pataki's height."
Shortly after that, Pataki's aspirations got lost in the cornfields. So much for being tall.
By the way, Reynolds informed me that Warren G. Harding had the largest shoe size. He wore a size 14.
That is apropos of nothing. You may interpret that fact in any way you like.
Reach Phil Reisman at preisman@lohud.com. Twitter: @philreisman.