Pataki Won’t Seek GOP Nomination, Palin Next?

George Pataki may have been considering a run for the Republican presidential nomination, but that is no longer the case.

He made the announcement before he was scheduled to attend a fundraiser in Des Moines, Iowa, the Des Moines Register reported.

Today, my family and I have reached the very difficult decision not to seek the office of president of the United States, Pataki said in a statement.

While I have chosen not to run, I remain committed to the cause and will support a candidate who offers the vision, the ideas and the leadership to bring an end to America's debt crisis, he said.

Pataki said he will, however, continue to fight to decrease the national debt. He spoke against President Obama when announcing his decision.

President Obama and his misguided policies are bankrupting America, stealing from our children's future, and he must be defeated next November, he said in his statement.

Pataki's announcement comes on the cusp of rumors on whether former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin may or may not seek the GOP presidential nomination.

When Karl Rove said Palin would announce any presidential plans she had after Labor Day, her team issued a statement.

Any professional pundit claiming to have 'inside information' regarding Governor Palin's personal decision is not only wrong but their comments are specifically intended to mislead the American people, the statement said.

Rove then called the former Alaskan governor thin-skinned on Thursday on Fox News.

It is a sign of enormous thin skin that if we speculate about her she gets upset and I suspect if we didn't speculate about her she'd be upset and try and find a way to get us to speculate about her, he said.

Another Republican presidential hopeful who has declined seeking the nomination is former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty, who withdrew on Aug. 14, the Associated Press reported.