ALBANY - Republican Gov. George Pataki, with little fanfare, announced this past week he was scrapping a self-imposed timetable to decide whether to run for a fourth term next year.

While Pataki had earlier said he would decide shortly after the state Legislature ended its annual session - scheduled to conclude this month - or at least before the end of the summer, he backed away from such constraints during a Wednesday news conference at the Capitol.

The three-term governor said that with the session over, he would take time to decide whether to sign or veto bills sent to him and "then I will sit down and look at the politics and make a decision. I'm not going to put a date or a time frame on it."

"I'll make it when I'm ready," Pataki said.

The governor has been under pressure from some in his party to make a decision about seeking re-election so the GOP can, if it must, line up a new standard-bearer who has plenty of time to raise money and rally the troops.

"If the governor intends to run, he has to say it now. If he doesn't intend to run, he needs to say it now," U.S. Rep. John Sweeney, a Saratoga County Republican, told the New York Post recently. "Actually, he should have done it a while ago."

Asked about Sweeney's comments, Pataki bristled.

"I think I'm helping the Republican Party by governing successfully and leading this state, and I think that's what people want," the governor said.

"There are always going to be critics who never step up and actually run," the governor added. "I've done it. There are others who are prepared to."

In fact, Pataki's earlier statements setting a timetable appeared to have backed him into a corner that, if history is any guide, may not have been necessary.

The last governor to announce he would not seek re-election, thus creating a wide-open race, was one of Pataki's own heroes - Democrat Hugh Carey.

But it wasn't until Jan. 15, 1982, less than 10 months before the election, that Carey announced he would not seek a third, four-year term.

While the election year had already started, Democrats didn't find themselves in desperate straits.

They had a spirited primary campaign between then-New York City Mayor Edward I. Koch and then-Lt. Gov. Mario Cuomo.

To the surprise of many, the financially struggling Cuomo won the primary.

And, lo and behold, money began flowing in over the transom so fast the Cuomo camp had trouble keeping up with the counting.

By the crucial last few weeks of the general election campaign, Cuomo was matching Republican candidate Lewis Lehrman's heavy spending dollar for dollar. And, when the votes were in, Cuomo had won.

Unclear is exactly why Pataki backed away from his earlier self-imposed deadline.

It could be something as simple as him getting his back up over the public statements from Sweeney, a congressman who was once extremely close to Pataki. Their relationship has chilled in recent months.

Or, Pataki could simply be waiting for some other political pieces to fall into place.

There is, of course, another possibility.

While the supposedly smart money has long been on Pataki not seeking a fourth term, he has carefully kept his options open.

And, if the governor is considering running for re-election, or had earlier decided not to run and is now having second thoughts, there is little reason for him to move ahead quickly with any announcement.

First of all, if you say you are running, you instantly become a bigger target. That is something state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has discovered since he announced late last year that he would seek the 2006 Democratic nomination for governor. Republicans, at every opportunity, look to put a political spin on almost everything Spitzer does these days.

Second, Pataki has proven he is a master fund-raiser and can quickly put together the massive war chest he would need to run again. He spent $45 million on his successful 2002 re-election race.

One recent independent poll also showed Spitzer's once hefty lead over Pataki slipping.

While the conventional wisdom continues to tilt heavily toward a no-fourth-term-run scenario, Pataki has at least caused some to take another look at the situation.

Marc Humbert can be reached at mhumbert@ap.org