TILTON, NH - When Pat Buchanan strode into the Tilt'n Diner early yesterday morning, it was not a chance for the Republican presidential primary candidate to introduce himself to voters.
After all, he first did that back in 1992, when he finished a close second to George Bush in New Hampshire; and again in 1996, when he beat eventual nominee Bob Dole.
Instead, his appearance yesterday was more like Old Home Day on the campaign trail - a chance to get reacquainted, to mingle with old friends and to remind voters that he and his America-first message have not changed one iota, even if the economy has taken a turn for the better.
"Long time, no see!" beamed Diane Cross, a diner waitress who met Buchanan during the last primary. "Nice to see you again." Later, Cross got Buchanan's autograph for her children.
Around here, people are still on a first-name basis with Buchanan, who portrays himself as a champion of working class, middle America and traditional values.
"Oh, I like Pat. I think he'd do good for us," said Steve Anstey, of Belmont, who said he's supported Buchanan in the past. "He stands for a lot of the same things as George Bush and Ronald Reagan did."
Even as heavy construction equipment outside worked to widen Exit 20 and speed access to a string of new outlet stores and national discount retailers, Buchanan told diners there is still something seriously wrong with the economy. Work may be plentiful, he said, but too many American businesses are moving their manufacturing operations and their once-stable, high-paying jobs overseas.
"Underneath this Goldilocks economy, we are losing America's industrial base. And I will make that case before the American people," said Buchanan, a conservative commentator and former advisor to presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.
Buchanan opened his New Hampshire headquarters in Manchester Sunday, and spent yesterday canvassing the North Country, with stops in Littleton and Berlin - conservative bastions that he controlled in the last two primaries.
"We've got the best free market in the world," he said. "But at the same time, we ought to be concerned when you're seeing your steel mills shutting down, and your textile mills and your G.E. plants and your manufacturing shutting down and going abroad."
At a campaign stop in Somersworth Sunday, he noted that the General Electric plant there laid off 118 workers in October 1998 and 45 this February. This month the company announced plans to lay off 130 more by year's end. At the same time, the company's operations are expanding in Mexico.
His hard-line message on trade and foreign exports struck home with Maggy Simony of Meredith, who normally supports Ross Perot's Reform Party. This time, she said Buchanan is the only leading candidate who understands the long-range impacts of the North American Free Trade Agreement and other policies that have led to huge trade deficits.
"To me, he's like Winston Churchill at the beginning of World War II," Simony said. "He's the only one who really understands what's going on in the world when it comes to trade."
An organizer of public access television stations around the state, Simony invited Buchanan to debate other leading Republicans on the air. Buchanan said he's willing to debate anyone, anywhere.
"You call them up and tell them Pat Buchanan is waiting on the other side of the roundtable for them," said Buchanan, co-host of CNN's Crossfire, moderator of CNN's Capital Gang and panelist on The McLaughlin Group.
Buchanan said he is not worried about better-financed challenges from other conservatives who are touted as Republican favorites, most notably Bush's son, Texas Gov. George W. Bush and Dole's wife, former Red Cross president Elizabeth Dole. He said neither is talking enough about protecting American jobs, or erasing the trillion dollar trade deficit. He said foreign products shipped here should face the same tax levies as domestic products. Most of the dozen or so regulars at the diner seemed pleased, but not overly surprised, to find a presidential candidate in their midst at breakfast. But two visiting from California said it would be nearly impossible to have such close contact with candidates where they live.
"It's really nice to meet someone like that. He's very friendly," said Betty Stone, who is originally from Belmont. She and Paul Wright, both of Jamestown, Calif., were visiting the area for a wedding.
