Brigade Field Report

Dear Linda,
        My family and I just got back from the Manchester, New Hampshire book signing with Pat. The other Brigaders should know that it has been raining non-stop for 24 hours because of Floyd so no matter what if you were going to see Pat you were going to get wet. It was miserable driving, the Barnes & Noble had what appeared to be a small parking lot, spaces were at a premium, the time was inconvenient for some folks, and, well, if you wanted an excuse not to be there you had plenty to choose from.

Linda, with all of those de-motivators there was easily 200+ people who passed through in that hour. This meant a long line, which was good in one way for me. Every time I see Pat & Shelly again I need about 20-30 minutes to fight the lump in my throat and the tears in my eyes because a Pat Buchanan Presidency really can mean a difference for my children, my children's children and our friend's children. America will be great again, our people will be proud, the unborn will be protected before their first breath, our elderly will be loved up until their last breath, the poor will be lifted up through their own self-respect, the rich will get rich through the fairness of a free enterprise system and not because of politics and our military will protect our Constitutionally affirmed freedoms and sovereignty.

It was abundantly clear that no one was there to discourage Pat from a 3rd Party run. Everyone appeared to have just come from sharpening their pitchforks for the ensuing battle. These people know that this is a battle for everything that is good and right and decent about America. A battle which neither the Republican nor the Democratic Party are qualified to carry out. They each forfeited their right long ago to be the party that represents the fine people of America. Yours in Liberty, Freedom and Honor,
       -- Mark Santelman - Nashua, NH

Dear Brigade,
        I just left a book signing in Manchester, NH in which Pat signed two books for me. In our brief exchange (the first time I have met Pat) I told Pat that I would vote for him even if he becomes a Reform Party candidate. As he signed my books he told me that he appreciated that and then he looked directly into my eyes and said "It's a tough thing, ya' know" (referring to his decision to leave the Republican Party).

I was chilled to the bone by the look in his eyes and the sound of his voice - I must have looked to him as if I was a deer in the headlights. His were the eyes of a man who is agonizing over whether he should leave his unfaithful wife of 30 years or stay and try to make it work. I feebly tried to reassure him that he has my vote.

But Pat is genuinely and sincerely troubled over the fact that he may soon part ways with an entity that he truly loves. And that is what struck me - this guy isn't playing a game with Nicholson and the party trying to get them to beg him back or cow-tow to his wishes - he's not stretching this thing out to see what happens - he is, from the depths of his soul, (and I saw it in his eyes and heard it in his voice) troubled and it has nothing to do with any campaign. I believe Pat might be planning to leave the party even if he weren't a candidate.

Pat, I know now that leaving the GOP is a devastating thought to you. But our GOP does not exist anymore. We are outsiders and not wanted. Bush doesn't want you to leave because it would hurt him - same with the party. The GOP has rigged state primary elections to destroy your bid. The GOP we loved is gone and now is the time for us, as a team, to form the GNP (Grand New Party). We extremists (people who have moral and political convictions); we nationalists (who would, if we had the chance, scramble from our beds in a minutes notice to grab a musket and defend our land); we religious zealots and right wing conspirators, and we who agonize over the thought of a mother killing her unborn baby, have the opportunity to reorganize the ideas of the old GOP into a home for the young conservatives coming up. The GOP is not a party of ideas anymore, its a party of whatever it takes to get elected.

A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do, Pat. Let's Go, Pat, Let's Go!
       -- Rich Heidbreder - Merrimack, NH