"We have a two-party duopoly in Washington," said the conservative Republican turned Reform Party contender. "We have one-party government masquerading as a two-party system."

The former White House aide and television commentator called himself the "defending champion of the New Hampshire primary," a reference to his victory in the 1996 GOP contest. This time, he said, he will "skip the regionals ... and go right into the finals in November."

The regionals -- a reference to the presidential primaries scheduled for Feb. 1 -- drew Buchanan's interest twice before. In 1992, he embarrassed President Bush with a strong second-place finish in the Republican primary. Four years later, he defeated Sen. Bob Dole and the rest of the field.

There is no Reform Party primary season; the party's nominee will be chosen this summer at a convention.

In his brief visit to New Hampshire, Buchanan came face to face with his past, encountering his statewide campaign manager of 1996, Peter Robbio, a volunteer now for Republican hopeful Steve Forbes.

And he was confronted with a disquieting question for a staunch conservative: whether his candidacy might help put an abortion rights supporter in the White House by siphoning votes away from the Republican nominee.

His answer: Republican front-runner George W. Bush "has repeated ... he will not commit himself to the Republican platform" on abortion and "will not commit himself to putting justices on the Supreme Court" who will vote to overturn the 1973 opinion legalizing the procedure.

In a pair of campaign appearances -- he also attended a memorial service for Nackey Loeb, whose Manchester Union Leader supported him in the past -- Buchanan said the two major political parties were together on the wrong side of too many issues.

"The two Washington parties have become Xerox copies of one another," he said.

Neither will agree to restrict military involvement overseas to conflicts that involve this country's strategic interests, he said.

As an example, he cited the recent involvement in Kosovo. "Mr. Bush, Mr. McCain, Mr. Gore, Mr. Bradley and Mr. Clinton say that was a wonderful war," he said, including the names of the four leading White House contenders for the Republicans and Democrats.

With the end of the Cold War, Buchanan said, the United States must return to a "more traditional foreign policy" of less engagement. And yet, he said, "it is an issue that will not be talked about" because the major parties are in agreement.

He accused both parties of neglecting American trade interests, in part by gradually ceding sovereignty to the World Trade Organization and other agencies. The WTO, the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund, he said, are the "embryonic institutions of world government."

"The great battle cry of our time is the battle of the patria, the homeland, the country versus world government."

He also said America's policy of engagement with China has become one-sided and yet neither leading Republicans nor Democrats have been willing to take a hard look at it. Both parties generally agree on extending normal trade relations to Beijing, he said, even though Chinese leaders are engaged in a massive military buildup.

The political terrain is less fertile for Buchanan in New Hampshire than it was eight years ago, when he first made his rounds as a candidate. Then, the state was suffering from high unemployment as the traditional manufacturing base withered, and he could appeal to displaced workers.

Now, the economy is booming, fueled in part by the presence of high tech companies.

But Buchanan said both political parties "are totally beholden to the soft money of the transnational corporations" that place their business interests first.

Asked by one youthful questioner what he would do for the young people of the country if elected, Buchanan invoked the name of John F. Kennedy, a Democrat, and his memorable challenge to "ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."