Gotta Do What I Gotta Do
Declaring the Republican Party he knew and loved dead, Pat Buchanan said he must run under the Reform Party banner to promote his causes.
A two-time GOP presidential candidate now seeking the Reform Party nomination, Buchanan said his candidacy may siphon votes away from Republican George W. Bush, possibly hurting the party's chances of reclaiming the presidency. But he said his causes would be ignored if he did not run.
"I came to the conclusion that (Bush) was going to win the nomination, that he was an establishment candidate, and that Al Gore was going to beat him, and we're going to go down to defeat for the third time," Buchanan told an audience at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government on Thursday.
"The people that believe in me and believe in all the causes I believe in, they are going to go unrepresented in the general election once again," he said.
Buchanan added, "I know there is a possible danger that my campaign might damage and set back the causes I've worked for my whole life. But I made a decision at that time, and in my best judgment, as to whether I could do good for the causes I believe in."
Addressing a mostly liberal audience, Buchanan outlined his message under the Reform banner.
He accused Bush and Democratic front-runner Al Gore of being so dependent on corporate money to finance their campaigns that there is no longer any difference between them.
"The party of Ronald Reagan which I loved and served in the White House is in my judgment dead," he said. The former Nixon speechwriter added, "More and more, both Beltway parties sing from the same song sheet," he said. "There is no fresh thinking down there in Washington."
Buchanan, who said he hopes to attract some of John McCain's supporters now that the Arizona senator has left the race, said he would overhaul campaign finance laws by banning unlimited, unregulated donations from corporations or unions. He also called for requiring congressmen to raise half of their donations from their home states or districts and for establishing congressional term limits.
Buchanan said the United States must revisit the need for Cold War institutions such as NATO, and should pull U.S. troops from Bosnia and Kosovo.
Buchanan said the country is ripe for a third-party movement, pointing to Jesse Ventura's successful gubernatorial bid in Minnesota in 1998. He attributed Ventura's surprise win to his participation in debates, and said he was likely next week to challenge an independent panel's decision to effectively limit participation in the fall presidential debates to the two major-party candidates.
"We are one of the three recognized parties and the idea that the other two are conspiring to keep us out of the key events that are going to decide the election is an outrage," Buchanan said in an interview later in the day on Fox News Channel.
I Massachusetts, Harvard College freshman Joshua Weiner questioned Buchanan's motives for switching to the Reform Party. "You've gone and joined the Reform Party, which is a party that really doesn't have much to do with your hard line, right views except that they're willing to give you the nomination where the Republican Party never was. ... How do you justify that?" Weiner demanded.
Buchanan defended the move, saying he was in sync with many of the Reform Party's economic and political platforms, and that he has not changed a single one of his views.
Despite the new party and new campaign, Buchanan was repeatedly pressed about some of his past statements, including one that Adolf Hitler was "courageous" and another that women are not as able as men to succeed in the fast-paced world of finance. Buchanan defended both statements, and said they were taken out of context.
The challenges caused speculation by some that Buchanan will have a tough time getting his message of reform across. "I think he's out of touch, really out of touch," said Madeleine Pill, a Kennedy School student. "He's just got too much baggage."