If the purpose of Governor Pataki’s last state-of-the-state speech was to set himself up for a run for national office, he certainly got off to a good start yesterday. His remarks were substantive and ambitious and portend well for a man who is now casting his eye toward places like Iowa and New Hampshire and the states that will loom large in the 2008 primary season. While we’ve had our disappointments and differences with the governor over the years, if we had to judge only on the basis of that speech, we’d say Mr. Pataki deserves a serious look as a vice presidential contender in 2008, though he no doubt is aiming higher.

One of the strongest points in the speech was Mr. Pataki’s acknowledgement, which we found extraordinarily moving, of New York soldiers recently returned from serving in Iraq. The governor spoke for many of us when he offered “infinite gratitude” to the men and women he referred to as “brave soldiers, brave soldiers.” Mr. Pataki noted that he is the father of a 2nd lieutenant in the Marine Corps. He summed up the mission in Iraq, saying the troops “endeavored daily to seek out and destroy the terrorist insurgency, so that democracy could take root and thrive.”

Another high point was the governor’s advocacy of tax cuts, which Mr. Pataki framed as creating freedom, creating jobs, and strengthening New York’s global and national competitiveness. He called for eliminating the estate tax, cutting the income tax rate, and cutting taxes on businesses. The two messages – tax cuts, strong on defense – have been at the core of Republican success from President Reagan through Speaker Gingrich to President George W. Bush. Mr. Pataki’s remarks yesterday put him squarely in that tradition, and it was terrific to see him there.

On the particulars of the tax cuts, we’d prefer rate cuts in property taxes to the rebate checks that Mr. Pataki is suggesting. That would underscore the idea that the money belongs to the taxpayer in the first place, rather than property of the government to bestow or return to the taxpayers. We’re eager for details on the rate cuts in the business and income taxes, because it will be important to structure them as marginal tax cuts, that is, on the next dollar earned. While we are sympathetic to the goal of reducing American dependence on foreign oil – or, as Mr. Pataki put it, “expensive, polluting, terror promoting foreign oil” – Mr. Pataki’s endorsement of a special tax break for ethanol seems more like a pander to the corn-growers who make up the Iowa caucus electorate than it is a serious and well thought out free-market energy policy.

One of the things missing from Mr. Pataki’s speech was any serious confrontation of what William F. Weld, the former Massachusetts governor who hopes to succeed Mr. Pataki in Albany, calls the “big enchiladas” of reform in Albany – Medicaid costs and pension expenses for public employees. So there is no doubt that Mr. Pataki’s successor will have his work cut out for him. Even so, it is good to see Mr. Pataki in fighting form again. If he follows through and achieves the tax-cutting goals he set out in his speech, he’ll leave New York primed for growth and himself with a reputation as a leader in the mold of Reagan and George W. Bush.