WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Pat
Buchanan has rejected suggestions he bolt his party and seek the
White House nomination of Ross Perot's Reform Party, a top aide
said Wednesday."Pat is a Republican -- in name and in heart," declared
Bay Buchanan, the candidate's sister and senior adviser, saying
her conservative brother has no plans to leave the party.
"We talked about it (making a run at the Reform Party
nomination) but he never seriously considered it," she
insisted.
The Washington Post reported Sunday that Buchanan,
frustrated by the Republican Party's embrace of presidential
front-runner George W. Bush, was considering leaving his party
and seeking the Reform Party nomination instead.
"Pat isn't considering leaving the party," Bay Buchanan
said in a telephone interview Wednesday. "He is considering how
to beat George W. Bush," the Texas governor who is a son of
former President George Bush.
She said her brother, as he was during his 1996 White House
bid, has been urged by supporters to make a third-party run.
She said Republican political consultant Roger Stone
recommended at a private lunch with her about two weeks ago that
Buchanan go for the nomination of the Reform Party, which was
founded by billionaire businessman Perot in 1995.
Perot ran for president as an independent in 1992. After
helping found the Reform Party in 1995, he ran as its 1996
presidential nominee, winning about 8 percent of the vote. Perot
hasn't said whether he will seek his party's 2000 presidential
nomination.
"A lot of our people don't think the Republican Party
establishment will give Pat a chance," she said in explaining
why her brother has been urged by backers to leave the party.
"We know the Republican establishment isn't for us, but we
think we can beat it by reaching out to grass roots voters,"
she said.
Bay Buchanan said speculation that her brother might leave
the party "does hurt" his Republican candidacy.
"We are on the phones today," explaining that he intends
to remain a Republican, she said.
Russell Verney, chairman of the Reform Party, said he wasn't
surprised that Buchanan intends to remain a Republican.
"I think he has been clear for more than seven years now
that he wants to fight for the heart and soul of the Republican
Party," Verney said in a telephone interview.
Verney said he received a number of calls from Buchanan
supporters about a possible Reform Party bid, but was never
contacted by Buchanan or any of his top aides.
"I think this whole thing was a trial balloon put up by
some of his supporters and people like Roger Stone, not Pat
Buchanan," he said.
Bay Buchanan charged that Bush, who polls show has more
support than 11 other party White House contenders combined, is
out of step with average Republican voters.
"The grass roots aren't supporting the positions of the
younger Bush," she said. "He is closer to (President) Clinton
than grass roots Republicans."
