TO RUN 11/23
By JEFFREY MERRITT
Telegraph Staff
NASHUA - With the Republican presidential field pared to nine,
conservative commentator Patrick Buchanan called for Alan Keyes to follow
U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania out of the race to unite fervent
pro-life voters behind one man.
"Alan Keyes gives a very good pro-life speech, but his candidacy is
dividing the pro-life movement now," Buchanan said of the former
ambassador during a Wednesday morning appearance on radio station WMVU-AM.
"I wish they would get behind me."
Neither Keyes nor officials at his campaign headquarters in Alexandria,
Va., could be reached for comment Wednesday.
The day after the nation's Republican governors left New Hampshire,
Buchanan arrived for a one-day swing through the state's southern tier. He
paid a short lunchtime visit to the Central Diner and Chuck's Barber Shop
on Main Street, saying Specter's suspension of his candidacy showed the
grass roots of the GOP was strongly opposed to abortion.
Referring to Specter and California Gov. Pete Wilson, who pulled out in
late September, Buchanan said: "The very fact that these individuals
presented themselves as pro-choice candidates suggests the strength of
pro-choice opinion in the Republican Party is exaggerated."
The Republican field now includes only one supporter of abortion rights,
Steve Forbes, but he plays down his pro-choice stance.
Buchanan said Keyes' supporters from the far right plank of the
Republican Party would help him close in on Senate Majority Leader Bob
Dole, R-Kan., whom he feels is not a strong enough opponent of abortion.
"We need to unite the pro-life forces in New Hampshire and across the
country if we're going to get the pro-life agenda written into the
Constitution," he said.
Buchanan welcomed the agreement to end the fighting in Bosnia, but he
said enforcing the pact should be left entirely to European forces without
the 20,000 American troops President Clinton wants to send to the region.
The agreement is not truly a sign of peace, Buchanan said, but just a
shaky truce among leaders who have grown tired of the bloodletting.
"You're going to have (American) casualties and a national uproar, and the
end result is we'll pull out and it will cause the virtual collapse of
NATO," Buchanan said.
A caller to WMVU said he had backed Buchanan in the 1992 GOP primary but
was leaning toward U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas this time around. He
questioned whether Buchanan would have the financial strength to compete
with Gramm after the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary.
Buchanan, who raised more money than Gramm in the third quarter of 1995,
said he was counting on federal matching funds he would pick up in January
- as well as strong early performances in Iowa, New Hampshire, South
Carolina and Arizona - to carry him through the rest of the primary
season.
Later, he said he would spend most of his time between now and February
hopscotching back and forth between New Hampshire and Iowa.
At the Central Diner, Buchanan chatted with customers and tried to sell
co-owner Wendy Roy on his "Small Business Bill of Rights," which he said
would help her to hire a few more employees.
Roy objected when Buchanan called her a small businessman, telling him
she was a "businesswoman." Later, said she doesn't pay much attention to
politics. "He sounded just like every other politician," Roy said.
Alan Horlick, a Buchanan supporter from Londonderry, said he welcomed
the candidate[s opposition to the NAFTA and GATT trade deals, as well as
his consistent discussion of the country[s declining social values. "The
social conscience of this country is going to pot," Horlick said.
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The Telegraph The daily newspaper of Nashua and
P.O. Box 1008 southern New Hampshire since 1869
Nashua, NH 03061 voice: (603) 882-2741 fax: (603) 882-2681