ALBANY - In issuing sweeping vetoes against the state budget recently adopted by the New York Legislature, Gov. George Pataki has moved to restore a semblance of the fiscal conservatism that was a hallmark of his first years as governor.

His action comes as he contemplates a run for the Republican presidential nomination, a potential quest already burdened by his long support of abortion and gay rights, and tough gun-control legislation. These are the sort of positions that don't sell well with the conservative voters in Iowa and New Hampshire who wield great power in the GOP nominating process. Fiscal conservatism, on the other hand, is something they like.

Pataki has vetoed spending added by the Legislature in the past but has also seen those vetoes overridden in the Senate and Assembly. This year could be much different. Pataki has said the majority of the contested spending was put in the budget unconstitutionally and that, vetoes aside, he has no legal authority to spend the money - even if he wanted to.

Pataki said that of the $2.9 billion he vetoed from what he said was a $115.5 billion budget approved by the Legislature, lawmakers can legally only override him on $650 million.

The result? Likely court challenges similar to past attempts in recent years by the Legislature to trim the governor's budget-making powers. Pataki has routinely won those battles. The real bottom line? While the court challenges drag on, Pataki will withhold the spending.

The whole thing has legislative leaders in a tizzy and speaking bluntly.

In a radio interview on Wednesday, state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno as much as accused his fellow Republican of worrying more about residents of Sioux City than Syracuse.

“He's in Iowa a half a dozen times. He's in New Hampshire. He has a PAC (political action committee) in Virginia raising money to run for president,” Bruno told Albany's WROW-AM radio. “And, I applaud him for that.”

“But, having said that, I am not going to sit still and let somebody who has a different agenda deal with, ultimately, the result that we all need here for the people in New York state. The United States is a different agenda,” he said.

The refrain was echoed by the head of the Healthcare Association of New York State, upset with vetoes that could cut funds from hospitals and nursing homes.

“The unconscionable reality is that these vetoes aren't even about New York, they're about establishing the governor's ‘conservative' credentials with voters in Iowa and New Hampshire,” said Daniel Sisto.

Nonetheless, this is about numbers and Pataki can count.

In national polls, he is barely in the single digits when it comes to who GOP voters favor for the 2008 presidential nomination while Sen. John McCain, former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice all cruise along in double digits.

At home, the big picture numbers are also not encouraging for the governor.

His first budget as governor, adopted in 1995, was $63.5 billion, just 2.6 percent above the budget delivered by Democrat Mario Cuomo and the Legislature in 1994. Tucked into the first Pataki budget was a major reduction in the state income tax and significant business tax cuts. The next year, Pataki delivered a $63 billion budget, a package that actually reduced state spending.

But since then, and with Pataki running for re-election twice and state lawmakers running every two years, the budgets grew and grew. Even if his latest vetoes stand, the budget will have grown by 78 percent during his watch. State debt has also ballooned under Pataki, going from $28 billion when he took office to more than $48 billion today.

But Pataki spokesman David Catalfamo said other numbers should be remembered - spending growth below the national average, $140 billion in tax cuts and the highest state credit rating in 25 years.

Just how serious Pataki was about burnishing his credentials became clear when he vetoed $200 million earmarked in the new budget for pork-barrel projects at the local level. Tampering with such “bring-home-the-bacon” funds for lawmakers in an election year is considered tantamount to a declaration of war. Pataki has no such concerns. He announced in July he wasn't going to seek a fourth term this year.

Pataki rejected the allegations he was being driven by presidential ambition.

“I am acting quite clearly in a way that I think is right for the people of New York,” the governor said.

There is a potential glitch for Pataki if he does have one eye on GOP voters beyond New York. In vetoing the spending, he had to reject some property tax rebates, tax credits and tax cuts worth about $1 billion, much of which even he had favored in a different format.

“You don't impress people, primary voters, by vetoing tax cuts,” Pataki said Thursday.

The governor said he would try to negotiate a deal with legislative leaders to let those go forward. That could be welcome news in Syracuse, and maybe, for Pataki, in Sioux City.