8A
Tuesday, February 27, 1996
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Buchanan backers a conservative lot
The Associated Press
MESA, Ariz. — Elijah Cardon is a wealthy petroleum dealer; James Colter a retired hospital worker of modest means. These very different men share a deep disdain for Washington, even deeper faith in God—and enthusiastic support for Pat Buchanan.
Cardon and Colter are part of Buchanan's eclectic coalition: a mix of Christian conservatives, rural populists, gun enthusiasts, angry blue-collar workers and others who often have little in common with each other, except for their disgust with politics.
"It's about time we had an honest president," said Colter, who attended a weekend Buchanan rally in rural Camp Verde, Ariz. "Now all the politicians in Washington are yelling about the guy. That only makes me like him more."
This rebellious streak is a common trait of Buchanan's backers, many of whom doubt that the GOP presidential hopeful could defeat President Clinton in November, but nonetheless want to deliver a message.
"It is about time that Washington realizes that the country is a lot more conservative than they think," said Bill Haynes, a Phoenix precious metals dealer. "It is about time we had a candidate who was not afraid to say this is one nation under God."
Exit polling in Louisiana, Iowa, New Hampshire and Delaware this year suggests Buchanan supporters tend to be more conservative than the overall GOP electorate.
Still, Buchanan is having some success across the GOP's ideological spectrum. And, perhaps most importantly, he has proven his ability to attract middle class and Ross Perot voters who are critical to Republican chances against Clinton.
Buchanan describes members of his ragtag coalition as good Americans.
The so-called experts aren't sure what to make of it. While most in the
political establishment remain deeply skeptical of Buchanan's staying power, the commentator's early success has forced them to rethink the notion he could never win the Republican nomination.
"Anyone who still thinks that isn't paying much attention," said Arizona Sen. John McCain, a supporter of Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole. McCain gives Buchanan even or better odds of winning today's Arizona GOP primary.
Even Buchanan himself is a recent convert. With a nervous laugh, the once unthinkable makes its way into his speeches these days.
"If I win Arizona, I win that nomination," he told enthusiastic crowds over the weekend. "And if I win that nomination I am the next president of the United States."
Among those who heard Buchanan's message: more than 250 people who filled Cardon's yard Sunday night, looking up with admiring gazes as Buchanan spoke from a second-floor balcony.
Most Republicans still believe that Buchanan will lose steam once — or if — the field shrinks so that Dole, publishing his Steve Forbes and former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander don't splinter the more mainstream GOP vote.
But if nothing else, the Buchanan phenomenon, and the people propelling it, are forcing the Republican Party to take notice of the festering anger and anxiety that many Republicans assumed would disappear from GOP voters after the party captured Congress in 1994.
In Arizona, disdain for the federal government often borders on suspicion and paranoia.
It is not uncommon, for example, to find well-educated Buchanan supporters who are convinced their own government had a role in the Oklahoma City bombing.
Many also nod fiercely as Buchanan rails against NAFTA and GATT — and not just because they
Knight-Ridder Tribune
blame the trade deals for job losses and stagnant wages.
Buchanan wins votes by casting these global agreements, and U.S. involvement in U.N. peacekeeping operations, as part of the steady, slow surrender of the sovereignty and freedom for which the founding fathers fought and died.
Jim Rousseau, a rural Arizona farmer, is so convinced of this he will not vote in November if he can't vote for Buchanan.
"All the others are for global government," he said.
There is irony in Buchanan's anti-Washington, anti-establishment appeal: He was born and raised in Washington and spent most of his life in the halls of power, as a White House aide and media commentator.
But in his cowboy hat and bolo tie, Buchanan the Outsider convincingly rails against all the lobbyists and hacks in Washington.
WASHINGTON — In a few short days, a deadly mix of missiles and bombs has jarred President Clinton's foreign policy, darkening a season of optimism with crisis and uncertainty. The Middle East, Northern Ireland and Cuba — all had been on the plus side of his
The Associated Press
Clinton foreign policy attacked
Now, the eruption of bloodshed by militant Palestinian terrorists, Irish Republican Army bombers and Castro's MIG pilots has thrust Clinton's foreign policy into
Bill Clinton
the political crosshairs.
"President Clinton doesn't have the foggiest notion of how to deal with our enemies," Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole charged after the downing of two small planes carrying anti-Castro Cuban Americans.
Those are stinging words in Florida where politics can be inseparable from a get-tough-on-Castro stand. Other GOP rivals had harsh criticism as well.
Even before the Cuba flare-up, Clinton's foreign policy was under attack. Pat Buchanan has led the charge with his America First banner, vowing to impose tariffs on imports and build a fence along the Mexican border.
Generally, foreign policy is not a burning topic in presidential races. Americans expect their presidents to stand tall on the global stage and defy handle foreign policy problems. However, people start paying attention when American soldiers start getting killed. That was the administration's fear in sending troops to Bosnia — another move sharply criticized by Dole and others.
That's not to say candidates don't try to ex exploit a situa-
borders. But after he was elected, Clinton embraced Bush's policy.
After a rough start for his administration, foreign policy has been a source of pride for Clinton, one that he talked up in January's State of the Union address.
The White House handshake that
Clinton attacked Bush for turning Haitian refugees away from U.S.
tion such as Cuba or other foreign policy problems.
"People will try to make hay out of this, just like Bill Clinton did with George Bush over Haitian refugees," said James Granato, professor of political science at Michigan State University. "In any campaign you want to accentuate the differences or the perceived failures."
Bob Dole Senate Majority Leader
Clinton engineered between Palestine Liberation Organization chief Yasir Arafat and the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin has a prominent spot in Clinton's campaign video. Sunday's suicide bombing in Israel shattered a six-month lull in terrorist attacks.
Similarly, IRA bombings in London have seriously threatened the peace process. And the downing of two civilian planes by Cuba ended a period of relative calm between Washington and Havana that had seen slight progress on refugee issues and other matters.
In the Middle East and Northern Ireland, though, it may be that the setbacks are temporary — bumps in the road. With Castro, the United States has little or no influence despite decades of pressure.
THE NEWS in brief
The Associated Press
Man sentenced to prison for killing wolf
BILLINGS, Mont. — A man got six months in prison yesterday for shooting and killing a wolf that was part of a project to restore the animal to Yellowstone National Park.
Chad McKittrick, 42, of Red Lodge, maintained he thought the gray wolf that had strayed out of the park was a wild dog and a danger to livestock.
McKittrick was found guilty in October of possessing, killing and transporting the wolf in April.
It was part of a group of wolves released in Yellowstone and Idaho last year in a federal effort to restore the species to the U.S. Rockies, where they were wiped out by hunters generations ago.
The wolves are protected under the Endangered Species Act.
The Student Executive Board of The Sport Club Council
Would like to endorse a YES VOTE for the KU Student Recreation Center. Get out and vote at the following places:
* Burge Union
* Kansas Union
* Strong Hall
* Robinson Gym
* Wescoe Hall
Vote February 27 and 28!