Buchanan Won't Rule Anything Out

[Buchanan at San Diego Conevetion Center]

SAN DIEGO (AllPolitics, March 25) -- Pat Buchanan, visiting the convention hall where Republicans will gather this summer to nominate Sen. Robert Dole, continued to send mixed signals today about a possible third-party bid.

Buchanan said his hope is to stay within the party and work to defeat President Bill Clinton. But he wouldn't rule out an independent run for the White House if the GOP shifts course on critical issues like abortion, immigration reform and help for working Americans.

"I'm not coming to our convention in San Diego to walk out," Buchanan told reporters at the San Diego Convention Center. "My hope is to stay inside the party and help defeat President Clinton. But we're not ruling anything out."

Buchanan plans after the California primary to go home to McLean, Va. and write a "McLean Manifesto" outlining his conservative views and thoughts on the Republican party's future.

Buchanan's communication director, Greg Mueller, said Buchanan was not prepared to rule out a third-party run despite encouraging "signs from the Dole campaign that they're listening and taking in what Pat's saying."

"The door is not shut on a third party," Mueller told the Associated Press. "Pat's heart is with the Republican Party but he's trying to get the party to open its heart to the working-class and middle-class folks that we've brought in."

Buchanan said he wants to keep running, because the other candidates who have quit have given up any power to influence the Republican agenda.

"I want to go all the way to San Diego and I want to bring my voters' support with me," he said. "If I quit now, they will be ignored."

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