Buchanan Rebuffs Dole Offer For Video Appearance

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, July 29) -- It didn't take long for conservative pundit Pat Buchanan to reject likely GOP nominee Bob Dole's offer to appear in an issues-oriented video spot at the Republican National Convention.

Though Dole's convention planners had been adamant on denying Buchanan any role whatsoever, Republican National Committee chair Haley Barbour -- concerned about alienating Buchanan's potent bloc of conservative voters -- changed their minds. Over the weekend, with Dole's blessing, Barbour offered the former talk show host what the Kansan has asked of his other primary rivals: an issues-oriented speech recorded on videotape.

Buchanan didn't respond immediately, but today his campaign manager, sister Angela "Bay" Buchanan, fired off a statement, dismissing the proposal as "an affront to the millions who believe in Pat and the 3 million who voted for him."

Buchanan, who has said he is entitled to address the convention because of the support he picked up during this spring's GOP primaries, will expound on his decision at a press conference Wednesday.

He is reportedly miffed that his conversation with Barbour was leaked. His sister called it "a continuance of the shabby political treatment that Pat and the conservatives have received from those running the San Diego convention."

Buchanan Rebuffs Dole Offer For Video Appearance

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