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While I like the progress that's being made on the platform, I don't see how it yet addresses what people are interested in this election. From what I've read, and the conversations I've had, there are basically 3 big issues:
Economy
Fairness
Immigration
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Our platform does have an immigration plank in it, and while we don't have an explicit economy or fairness section plenty of things like our science, tax, efficiency, and working class planks are touching on those issues.
Honestly, right now my biggest concern is that we haven't touched on homeland security beyond our foreign policy plans.
For reference, here's the current platform:
Government Efficiency
Reforming the government bureaucracy to eliminate cumbersome and irrational regulations is always a popular promise. It plays well to the general GOP base and the Establishment base and to Pataki's strength as a governor with a successful record. This is a very safe issue to hit on, one that nearly everyone can agree with, and which offers a lot of room for various wonkish proposals that might actually be worthwhile and which Pataki could implement as President without legislature. It's a good area to show that he knows what he's talking about and thus demonstrate his practical knowledge relative to Trump or Cruz or Rubio. Efficiency is going be one of our big watchwords all through the campaign. Our reforms are about eliminating waste and corruption that been allowed to fester for too long thanks to Washington special interests. We'll be lean, efficient, and pragmatically get things done.
Reduce Overcomplicated Taxes
Pataki is still a Republican, after all. He needs to give a tax reform speech sooner or later. His plan should stress simplifying the code to make it easier for ordinary Americans. Wonkish changes should be made to deductions and so on, favoring small business and loading marginal rate reductions on the lower end of the income pool (eg, families making under $100,000 a year or so). Reducing overall revenue is probably inevitable but it should be much more moderate than competing GOP plans. If there's a mantra it should be Small Business, Small Business, Small Business. Maybe a stinger about allowing the average American to file their taxes in 15 minutes online. Also mind Pataki would inevitably also need to pledge to lower the corporate income rate to lure companies back to America and prevent more corporate inversions, but perhaps paid for by eliminating various loopholes.
Foreign Policy Restraint
Donald Trump went to South Carolina, denounced George W. Bush for lying America into a pointless, wasteful war in Iraq, and won the state. There is a constituency in favor of a less aggressive, less militaristic approach to foreign affairs. Paleocons go to full-on isolationism, while Trump favors getting buddy-buddy with Russia and not giving a fuck about human rights; Pataki doesn't need to go that far, but outflanking the Establishment (and Hillary Clinton) on foreign policy by tacking left is not a bad idea. Regretfully suggest that Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya show the limits of "nation building" and that a "prudent" foreign policy of restraint will allow America to preserve and grow its strength to deal with truly important foreign interests. Walk a line between commitments to allies and pressure for them to shoulder their fair share of the security burden, and suggest a willingness to negotiate but from a position of strength- there Reagan's shade actually is useful, since Pataki can use his negotiations with Gorbachev and willingness to make peace on a "trust but verify" basis as cover.
Campaign Finance Reform
It's pretty clear the GOP base considers the government process absolutely tainted by special interests, by lobbyist influence, by corporate cash, and on the Democratic side by unaccountable public sector unions. The GOP as a whole has been hostile to actually doing anything to address that feeling, which made them highly vulnerable to Trump saying to the base that they were right and he knows because he bought politicians himself. He let the base in on the game, confirming their contempt for elected officials, while also offering that he can't be bribed because he has too much money anyway. I'd suggest endorsing a Constitutional amendment explicitly allowing Congress to regulate election campaigns without necessarily laying out more details. Appearance matters a bit more than substance here, and Pataki being a crusader against special interests is the appearance we want.
Prison/Sentencing Reform
This was a big thing in reformcon circles before Trump sucked all the oxygen out. I've discussed it a bit before, but there's definitely a role for a candidate who can stand up and argue for it. The Koch Brothers were big on this and there's a chance to maybe lure in their interest despite their preference for a more unambiguously libertarian candidate. It's also an interest to minority voters and a way to be responsive to the concerns of African-American endorsers; the chance to fire shots at Hillary for her husband's actions in the 1990s is also useful if it ever gets to a general election. It should mind only be addressed from a conservative perspective, in eliminating wastefulness and stressing that rehabilitating drug offenders is cheaper and more productive in the long run. The parable of Jesus and the woman being stoned for adultery might be a striking image; she was given the chance to go forth and sin no more.
Police Militarization
This is a potential heretical issue, but Pataki's record as a law-and-order governor should give him some authority to say that militarizing police has gone too far. This is another reformcon stance and while Pataki cannot go as far as criticizing policing, he can certainly say that enough is enough and that "more effective" strategies which he used as Governor of New York can lower crime while not alienating local populations. There's obvious synergy here with a stance in favor of Prison and Sentencing Reform. Be sure to emphasize the efficiency angle here. It's not about being soft on crime, it's about small-town police departments not needing APCs.
Infrastructure Spending
America's obsolete infrastructure makes it less economically competitive and insures daily frustrations for its population. It's also increasingly unsafe due to decades of deferring critical maintenance. Pataki should call for large-scale investment in building new bridges, refurbishing roads, updating airports, etc to get the "arteries of America" moving swiftly. Transition to a new "smart" energy grid will save vast amounts of money in the long run and make America's infrastructure less vulnerable to terrorists or foreign hackers. It'll also create good paying jobs for the working class and so provides a way to try to eat into Donald's base. And as a Republican, Pataki can probably get away without too much concern for the deficit caused by large scale infrastructure spending much like the Donald has.
America's Working Class
Trump does well in areas where the blue collar working class has bottomed out. There's polling to suggest his base is more among white people who are afraid of meeting that fate, rather than the working class white population as such, but it's still useful to address their concerns. And the opiate abuse epidemic ravaging their counties and their decaying suburbs is a high visibility sign of the utter hopelessness that draws lower class whites to Trump. Pataki should push hard for funds for treatment centers and public recognition of the epidemic, and for assistance to local authorities. If he gets WWE endorsers they should be great proxies for appealing to Trump's base of support and undermining their support of him. They just need another candidate who can reach out to them, speak their language, address their issues, and give them hope of change; Pataki needs to be that candidate. The key here is to acknowledge the problems while striking a positive tone. The working class has been the backbone of America, and has given so much to make America great. Washington special interests haven't given them the support they deserve, but we will.
Immigration
America is a nation of immigrants, but the Washington Special Interests have made a hash of our immigration laws and spent decades not fixing the problem until we've finally reached the breaking point. We need secure borders, but we also need to acknowledge that part of why we have so much trouble with illegal immigrating is because the Washington Establishment has allowed our legal immigration system to decay into an absolute shambles. Both of these problems have to be fixed to really address immigration.
Science
American companies are the best innovators in the world. But we're in danger of losing our advantages. China is forging ahead with their space program while ours stagnates. America landed on the moon, and we need to keep our advantage in space by backing private enterprise. Every dollar invested in NASA adds fifteen dollars to the economy, and any investment with a 1500% rate if return is one America needs to make.
Foreign factories are introducing technology stolen from America, stealing jobs even as they steal our ideas. It's a rat race and if we don't Support Our Entrepreneurs, we're going to lose. We need to invest in keeping America at the head of the pack, including supporting our education system (especially STEM) so that we keep our young the best in the world. We need to support real innovation that protects American interests and jobs!
Focus attention on advocating for nuclear power. Other countries have surged ahead in this by leaps and bounds -- "how can we talk about America as the greatest country in the world, when we've let our energy infrastructure grow so outdated?" You could even tie in foreign policy -- we shell out foreign aid to countries that hate us, simply to get access to their oil (cough Saudi Arabia cough). If we prioritize nuclear power, we would become energy independent that much faster, which would open up a lot of options on the foreign policy side of things.
Social Issues
Pataki is generally referred to as a 'pro-choice' Republican. That label will kill most if not all support he might receive from otherwise friendly voters who agree with his reform agenda but prioritize social values.
We need to frame Pataki's position on the issue in a way that won't estrange him from Republican voters. His previously stated position is basically akin to Tim Kaine's ("As a Catholic, I find abortion appalling, but it is the law of the land"). I suggest we play off that and focus on this being part of his pragmatic reform agenda. That is, you're never going to straight-up overturn Roe v. Wade (at least not anytime in the near future) and every candidate will argue to defund Planned Parenthood. But what you can do, to stand out from the crowd, is to propose a limited reform: ban abortions after 20 weeks. Roe v. Wade only established a 'right to abortion' until fetal viability, which is generally identified as ~20 weeks, so it should pass constitutional muster (though it'd obviously face a legal challenge from NARAL et al).
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