ONCORD, N.H. - Four weeks after he left the Republican Party, US Senator Bob Smith found a new home yesterday with the US Taxpayers Party, and urged fellow conservatives to join him.
Smith quit the Republican Party on July 13, saying it had abandoned its conservative platform on key issues such as abortion and gun control. Instead, the senator from New Hampshire plans to run for president as the candidate of the US Taxpayers Party.
''If conservatives believe in the right to life, the Second Amendment, a strong constitutional government going to our constitutional rights, I believe I'm your person,'' he said in a telephone news conference yesterday morning. ''Come home conservatives, and Bob Smith will be the next president of the United States.''
Party Chairman William Shearer said he expected Smith to win the party's nomination at its convention next month. ''I think there isn't any question he will get the nomination overwhelmingly,'' Shearer said.
Smith, who consistently drew little support in early Republican presidential polls, even in his home state, said he hoped to unite other disaffected conservatives in his independent run for the presidency. He predicted he will attract voters from diverse groups such as veterans, pro-life Catholic Democrats and people who have lost their jobs because of overseas trade agreements.
Smith had reportedly considered seeking the Reform Party nomination, but said the Taxpayers Party better matches his philosophy.
The Taxpayers Party's platform calls for repealing the federal income tax, abolishing welfare and appointing judges who ''acknowledge the legal personhood of the unborn child.'' It also says education cannot be separated from religious faith.
