Washington (CNN) George Pataki, the newest addition to the packed Republican White House race, said Thursday the bottom of the pack is the best place to start, as he kicked off his long-shot presidential bid in New Hampshire.

The former three-term New York governor, who led the Empire State through the trauma of 9/11, promised to upset predictions he has little chance in one of the deepest GOP presidential fields in years, in a campaign in which he barely registers in polls of the nationwide race or in swing states.

Pataki said the current state of the race reminded him of when he mounted a long odds run for governor in New York in 1994 and knocked off Democratic icon Mario Cuomo.

"No one had heard of me ... I was a Republican in deep blue New York," Pataki told CNN in an interview after a small event in the same Smuttynose Brewery in Hampton, New Hampshire, where Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton held a much more high-profile gathering last week.

"It took me months to get a crowd like this, to go anywhere in New York, to think I had a chance. But you work hard, you have the right ideas and over time convince people that you are the person to lead the country," he said. "I have always started at the bottom, I think it is the best way to do it. You appreciate something more when you earn it."

Earlier, Pataki had launched his campaign in the sweltering Old Town Hall in Exeter, New Hampshire, the town where the Republican Party was founded, after releasing a four-minute announcement video which made the case that if the nation is to flourish "we have to fall in love with America again."

At this point, Pataki's campaign looks like a lonely quest: No prominent elected officials or donors have stepped forward to trumpet his bid in a field that many top Republicans tout as one of the most competitive they have ever seen.

Given his lack of support, it is unlikely that Pataki will make the first Republican debate, which will be limited to the top 10 Republican hopefuls. That could stifle any efforts to increase his name identification among next year's voters.

But Pataki isn't likely to run a national campaign, if the pre-announcement build-up is any indication. He has dedicated most of his travel to New Hampshire, the second nominating contest where a tradition of small events and face-to-face campaigning gives him an outside chance to build some momentum.

JUST WATCHED George Pataki: Send combat troops to fight ISIS Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH George Pataki: Send combat troops to fight ISIS 02:09

He can pin some hope on the fact that the Granite State does tend to support more moderate Republicans, cut from the same cloth as Pataki, who supports conservation, same-sex marriage and gun control.

Even before he formally became a candidate, Pataki chose to air a television advertisement in New Hampshire panning his party for focusing on social issues, something he deemed a "distraction."

"Defeating Islamic terrorists, shrinking government, growing the economy -- these are the issues that matter most," Pataki says in the advertisement that began airing in mid-April. "Instead we're debating social issues like abortion and gay rights."

Pataki has also shown himself in the early stages to be one of the more hawkish presidential aspirants. The former governor said on CNN's "New Day" last week that the United States should deploy troops back to Iraq to fight growing Islamist threats, a position not expressed by his colleagues in the fray.

Photos: George Pataki's political career Photos: George Pataki's political career Former New York Gov. George Pataki announces his candidacy for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination May 28 in New Hampshire. Hide Caption 1 of 18 Photos: George Pataki's political career Pataki was raised in Peekskill, New York, and raised on his family's farm. In this photo, he speaks to guests gathered for the Republican Party of Iowa's Lincoln Dinner at the Iowa Events Center on May 16, 2015 in Des Moines, Iowa. Hide Caption 2 of 18 Photos: George Pataki's political career Pataki is a 1967 graduate of Yale University and a 1970 graduate of Columbia Law School. In the photo, he fields questions from Bruce Rastetter at the Iowa Ag Summit on March 7, 2015 in Des Moines, Iowa. Hide Caption 3 of 18 Photos: George Pataki's political career He also served for 10 years in the New York State legislature. From left to right, Pataki and Libby Pataki attend East Hampton Library's Authors Night 2014 on August 9, 2014 in East Hampton, New York. Hide Caption 4 of 18 Photos: George Pataki's political career Pataki was elected governor in 1994 and reelected twice after. From left to right, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Pataki, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former U.S. President Bill Clinton attend the opening ceremony for the National September 11 Memorial Museum at ground zero May 15, 2014 in New York City. Hide Caption 5 of 18 Photos: George Pataki's political career Pataki was the governor of New York during the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and led the state during one of the toughest times in U.S. history. Former New York Governor George Pataki, center, attends the 2012 Hudson River Park Gala at Hudson River Park on May 29, 2012 in New York City. Hide Caption 6 of 18 Photos: George Pataki's political career in this photo, Pataki talks with rapper Jay-Z on the sideline as the New York Jets play against the Dallas Cowboys during their NFL Season Opening Game at MetLife Stadium on September 11, 2011 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Hide Caption 7 of 18 Photos: George Pataki's political career Actor Matthew Modine and Pataki attend Solar One's Annual Revelry By The River Benefit at Solar One on June 2, 2009 in New York City. Hide Caption 8 of 18 Photos: George Pataki's political career Pataki greets Alison and Jefferson Crowther, who lost their son, Welles, on September 11, during a news conference at the World Trade Center site June 16, 2005 in New York City. Hide Caption 9 of 18 Photos: George Pataki's political career Pataki first won the office in 1994 by defeating liberal icon Mario Cuomo. In this photo, Pataki, left, and actor Robert De Niro, right, pose during a news conference to kick off the first annual Tribeca Theater Festival at Tribeca Cinemas October 13, 2004 in New York City. Hide Caption 10 of 18 Photos: George Pataki's political career Pataki has made trips to New Hampshire since expressing interest in a presidential run in January. In this photo, Pataki walks on the floor of the 2004 Republican National Convention as it gets underway August 30, 2004 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Hide Caption 11 of 18 Photos: George Pataki's political career Nobel Prize winner and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, right, and Pataki, left, announce February 6, 1997 that the governor is sending the state banking superintendent to Switzerland to meet with bank officials as part of a probe into actions during World War II. Hide Caption 12 of 18 Photos: George Pataki's political career Then-U.S. President George W. Bush, center, greets then-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, left, and then-New York Governor George Pataki September 14, 2001 in New York. Hide Caption 13 of 18 Photos: George Pataki's political career Before serving as governor of New York, he was previously the mayor of Peekskill, New York. Pataki, left, talks about Ground Zero with then-Interim Afghan leader Hamid Karzai January 20, 2002, at the site of the 11 September terrorist attacks, in New York. Hide Caption 14 of 18 Photos: George Pataki's political career Pataki, right, and his wife Libby greet the crowd before making his acceptance speech at a nomination meeting of the 2002 New York Republican State Committee Convention May 29, 2002 in New York City. Hide Caption 15 of 18 Photos: George Pataki's political career After finishing up as governor of New York, Pataki became an attorney with Chadbourne & Parke and worked on renewable energy cases. Pataki, right, celebrates with former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani at a luncheon during the 2002 New York Republican State Committee Convention May 29, 2002 in New York City. Hide Caption 16 of 18 Photos: George Pataki's political career Pataki, left, and then-California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger speak to the media in the courtyard of the Solaire Building, the largest residential green building in the nation, October 16, 2006 in New York City. Hide Caption 17 of 18 Photos: George Pataki's political career Pataki and his wife Libby currently reside in Garrison, New York. They have four children, Emily, Teddy, Allison and George Owen. In this photo, Pataki, left, then-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, center, and then-U.S. Vice President Al Gore, right, watch the procession of religious leaders walk into St. Patrick's Cathedral during the funeral for John Cardinal O'Connor May 8, 2000 in New York City. Hide Caption 18 of 18

"I don't want to see us putting in a million soldiers, spend 10 years, a trillion dollars, trying to create a democracy where one hasn't existed," Pataki said. "But send in troops, destroy their training centers, destroy their recruitment centers, destroy the area where they are looking to plan to attack us here and then get out."

Pataki seems to be embracing the distance between him and his Republican rivals, positioning himself as an anti-establishment candidate despite lacking the tea party panache of more popular presidential aspirants like Ted Cruz or Rand Paul.

Pataki and his aides have telegraphed that he plans to run as an outsider, naming the super PAC supporting his bid as, "We the People Not Washington."

A lawyer by trade, Pataki rose from being the mayor of the Westchester County hamlet of Peekskill through the New York state legislature. In the fall of 1994, Pataki ousted liberal darling Mario Cuomo to become New York's first Republican governor in two decades.

Pataki shepherded laws through Albany that reduced some tax rates and increased sentences for criminals committing hate crimes. He also governed New York as the state recovered from the 9/11 attacks that occurred a year before voters elected him to a third term.

He declined to run for a fourth term in 2006, and Democratic attorney general Eliot Spitzer succeeded him.

Pataki stoked speculation that he would run in 2008 and in 2012, but this is the year he has chosen to follow through.