Buchanan Declares He Is A Candidate For 2000

By Jill Zuckman, Globe Staff, March 3, 1999

MANCHESTER, N. H. -- Patrick J. Buchanan, the revolutionary Republican who turned politics on its head in 1992 and 1996, declared yesterday that he will be a candidate for president in 2000, promising to "heal the soul of America."

"Everybody, mount up and ride to the sound of the guns," he exclaimed at the end of his announcement speech to a couple of hundred supporters chanting "Go, Pat, Go!"

Buchanan, the conservative television commentator and author, retraced many of the same themes that won him an ardent following during the last two presidential elections. He panned the Clinton administration for what he called its "moral deficit" and its gutting of the armed forces, he demanded a moratorium on immigration, and he decried a trade imbalance that has cost American jobs. He also said he would stand up for the rights "of the innocent unborn."

A strong part of Buchanan's appeal in 1992, when he put a scare into President George Bush, and in 1996, when he beat Senator Bob Dole here, was his anger over the weak economy and his promise to return people to work. This time, however, even Buchanan concedes that "the economy is doing very well."

Still, Buchanan told reporters that the nation had lost 250,000 manufacturing jobs and farm income has fallen. "Go down to Weirton, West Virginia. Not everyone is doing well," he said.

Though he delivered his prepared remarks without the usual verve of past campaign appearances, Buchanan's attacks on the Clinton administration, with its yearlong sex scandal, drew the most enthusiastic response from his audience.

"America's greatest deficit is no longer found in the federal budget," he said. "It is a moral deficit, and it may be found in a polluted and poisoned culture that has become the great enemy within."

The White House, he said, "this temple of our civilization, has been desecrated, used to shake down corporate executives, to lie with abandon to the American people, a place to exploit women."

The crowd included a hefty contingent from Massachusetts, as well as nuns, priests, and many who are still deciding between Buchanan and Senator Bob Smith, also a candidate for president.

Karen Testerman, a 1996 Buchanan delegate from Mount Vernon, said she was surprised not to see many of the familiar faces who helped Buchanan beat Dole three years ago. But Testerman, too, has moved on. She is working as the state coordinator for Gary Bauer, the socially conservative head of the Family Research Council.

This time, Buchanan is also competing with many more candidates for the hearts and votes of the far right here. Besides Buchanan, former Vice President Dan Quayle is appealing to the right, as are Publisher Steve Forbes, US Representative John Kasich, Bauer, and Smith.

But Thomas D. Rath, a Concord attorney who is helping Lamar Alexander's campaign, said Buchanan might still unify socially and economically conservative voters.