ASHINGTON - Senator Bob Smith of New Hampshire, who left the Republican Party last month to join the US Taxpayers Party, announced yesterday that he is leaving his new party and is considering shelving his pursuit of the presidency.
Smith, who is in his second term, left the Republican Party on July 13, saying the group had strayed from its core conservative beliefs. He announced last week that he would seek the presidential nomination of the Taxpayers Party, but yesterday, he told business leaders at a political breakfast in Bedford, N.H., he had changed his mind.
''I swore allegiance to the Constitution, not to any political party,'' Smith said, adding that he will remain an Independent.
Smith said his experience with the Republican Party and the writings of George Washington had swayed him from partisan politics. He did not elaborate on his split with the Taxpayers Party, but he warmly endorsed the group and its hard-line conservative platform.
''I'm an independent, and I'm enjoying it. Frankly, I feel free,'' Smith said.
Smith told the group that his presidential campaign hinged on his wife's well-being and said he could drop out of the crowded race if her health did not improve. His wife, Mary Jo, was admitted Tuesday to the Catholic Medical Center with chest and arm pains.
''I still have a presidential campaign. At the moment, I haven't made a decision,'' he said. ''Right now, I'm focused on my family situation.''
The senator is expected to make a decision within the next several weeks, a Smith spokesman said.
The Taxpayers Party founder, Howard Phillips, said Smith had been weighing his intentions for some time.
According to Phillips, Smith was worried about the possibility of Patrick J. Buchanan bolting the Republican Party to seek the Reform Party nomination. ''He's worried that it might divert his potential supporters to Buchanan's campaign,'' Phillips said.
Phillips predicted that the senator would drop out of the race.
''Unless he is going to be a write-in candidate, the senator has no choice but to drop out,'' Phillips said. ''As of this point, there are few political parties that will embrace him.''
Phillips said Smith would have easily won the Taxpayers Party nomination at the party's convention next month, and the senator had promised to stay in the entire race once he accepted the nomination.
Smith was considered to be a long shot for the White House, scoring in the low single digits in polls, even in his home state of New Hampshire.
