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PATRICK BUCHANAN DISCUSSES THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE News Transcript CBS - Face the Nation - http://www.cbs.net July 11, 1999

BOB SCHIEFFER, host: Now we're going to turn to Republican politics, some real turmoil on the right side of the Republican Party this week. And we have Republican presidential candidate Pat Buchanan, who comes--and is not embarrassed to say--from the Republican right. Mr. PAT BUCHANAN (GOP Presidential Candidate): Mm-hmm. SCHIEFFER: What does this mean, Mr. Buchanan, because the news is that Bob Smith, the--the senator from New Hampshire who was running for president--I don't think anybody thought he was going to get the Republican nomination except perhaps Senator Smith. He now says he's going to leave the party apparently and run as the candidate of the US Taxpayer Party. There is some reports that you may actually...leave the Republican Party before it's over and go to the Reform Party, perhaps. What's happening on the right side of the Republican Party here? Mr. BUCHANAN: Well, I think with regard to Senator Smith, he's going through a lot of torment and anguish over whether to stay in the GOP. He's a friend of mine. He's a fine senator. And he's made his decision that he can best pursue and advance the causes in which he believes, which are very similar to what I believe, outside the Republican Party and the Taxpayer Party is a third party candidate. If he does that, and I'm not sure he has made the decision yet final, it's bad news for the Republican Party. GLORIA BORGER (CBS News; US News & World Report): Why is it bad news? Mr. BUCHANAN: Well, I think Bob Smith has a conservative base in New Hampshire and the Taxpayer Party, while very tiny, I think it got less than a million votes last time, he could get quite a few votes over there. BORGER: Well, let's talk about you. There's a lot of talk and -- you've met with Governor Ventura yourself. Mr. BUCHANAN: Right. BORGER: There's talk about your trying for the Reform Party nomination. Is that something you are considering? Mr. BUCHANAN: Right now, Gloria, I am in the Republican Party. I won the Republican straw poll in New Hampshire. I intend to go out to Ames, Iowa, and do my best there, although the competition is a little stiffer out there, I will concede. But I'm a Republican and I'm running for the Republican nomination. BORGER: Would you rule it out? Mr. BUCHANAN: I'm not going to rule anything in or out at this point. But what I do represent, Gloria, is what I've represented for seven years. I'm going to fight as long and hard and as well as I can for a foreign policy that puts our own country first and keeps us out of wars like Kosovo, for a trade policy that puts our farmers and workers first, and for, quite frankly, the full restoration of America's sovereignty. And I regret to say that the Republican establishment is very Clintonite on all those issues. SCHIEFFER: Well, now the chairman of the Republican Party, Mr. Nicholson, wrote a--what I would call a fairly nasty letter to Senator Smith... told him that it was not the message that was being rejected in his case, but the messenger, referring to Senator Smith. We have Senator McConnell, who heads a Senate campaign committee... saying he's going to now try to get back the money that the Republican Party gave Senator Smith in his last election. What do you think of--of the reaction from the party itself, so far, to Senator Smith? Mr. BUCHANAN: I think that Chairman Nicholson's letter was rude, insulting. It was arrogant, and ultimately, I think it was very stupid. You have probably--if Smith were not going to leave, he probably surely is going to now. I think the handling of this has been appalling on their part. And quite ap--and quite frankly, I just think that the Republican establishment is doing its best right now to almost force a fracture in the GOP. I've been reading about that I'm to be presented with some kind of a loyalty oath. Mr. BUCHANAN: I've served in three White Houses of three Republican presidents. And if someone presents me with a loyalty oath, I would suggest they're going to be making a mistake. BORGER: Well--but let's talk about that a little bit. There--there are two state chairmen, Iowa and New Hampshire... who are going to hand Republican candidates a loyalty oath saying that would you not bolt the GOP. Is that something you would sign? Mr. BUCHANAN: Well, what it is is a loyalty oath demanding that, sight unseen, I pledge to support the Republican nominee for president of the United States. Gloria, I pledge to support the causes for which I fought for seven years. I'm going to decide how best to pursue and advance those causes. I'm not signing any automatic loyalty oath to support the Republican nominee. In my judgment, the Republican establishment is virtually fixing this election, rigging this election, in the sense that candidates have 100--are going to have $ 100 million to spend. They're moving the primaries up to a point where maybe you cannot conceivably advance your causes. And those who say, quite frankly, there are no disagreements inside the Republican Party are profoundly and deeply mistaken. On China policy, for example, our establishment is going to endorse the Clinton policy of MFN for China, despite its savage criticism of Mr. Clinton. BORGER: So you're not going to sign any oath? Mr. BUCHANAN: I'm not signing any oath. SCHIEFFER: Up until this point, you've been the only Republican candidate that's really taken on George Bush. You have basically said that you don't think he's qualified to be president. Do you... Mr. BUCHANAN: I've said... SCHIEFFER: Do you think that if he gets the nomination you could support him? Mr. BUCHANAN: Bob, look, George Bush I've met several times. He's a personable young man from a--a great family. But he has not defined himself on the issues at all. And to the degree he has, he has come off so close to Clinton that even Mr. Clinton has begun to complain. On--on--again, trade policy, foreign policy, immigration policy, sovereignty. Where is the disagreement between Mr. Bush and Mr. Clinton? I can't see it. SCHIEFFER: So at this point, you're not sure you could support him? Mr. BUCHANAN: It--look, I'm going to support the ideas and values and views that I've supported for the last seven years. And I'm going to find the best way I can to fight for them. BORGER: Very quickly. Do--do you feel like you're being driven out of the Republican Party? Mr. BUCHANAN: I think the Republican establishment has made up its mind that what I did in '96 will never be allowed to be repeated, where I almost broke through and took the nomination. And if they slam those doors shut, well, we'll just have to look for another way. SCHIEFFER: Pat Buchanan, thanks for joining us this morning. Mr. BUCHANAN: Thank you. SCHIEFFER: When we come back, we'll talk about the other race: Hillary Clinton's campaign for the New York Senate.