Former Gov. George Pataki is still considering a run for president, but he's acknowledging in press interviews that time is growing short for him to decide.
The former three-term Republican has been hitting the college circuit and appealing to fiscal conservatives as part of his effort to combat the national debt.
Pataki entered a private law practice after leaving office in 2007, but has continued meeting nationwide with Republican groups.
Pataki's focus on the national debt comes shortly after both parties in Congress and Democratic President Barack Obama are under fire for out-of-control spending that is rattling Wall Street.
In an exclusive interview with NBC New York back in June (see video above), Pataki said his decision would depend on whether the other GOP contenders proposed a major deficit reduction plan.
At the time, NBC New York asked Pataki if New York voters have the appetite for true deficit reduction, considering they just rejected the upstate Republican who had embraced the House budget plan. When voters were asked why they chose the Democrat instead, many they said they worried about cuts to Medicare.
“It comes down to leadership,” said Pataki. “None of this is ever easy, because you cannot simply say we’re going to tinker at the margins when you have $14.3 billion of deficit. You have to be serious about it.”
