Pat Buchanan has brought his Republican
presidential campaign to Michigan, saying his conservative
philosophy offers the most formidable challenge to moderate George
W. Bush.
Bush "hasn't said a lot on the issues and when he does, he
sounds an awful lot like Bill Clinton," Buchanan said Monday.
"Bill Clinton is mad at him for stealing his lines."
Buchanan is strongly anti-abortion. He opposes any U.S.
involvement in Kosovo and moves to lower trade barriers between the
United States and Canada and Mexico.
More temperate views have been the downfall of the last two
failed Republican presidential campaigns and could lead to another
GOP defeat in 2000, Buchanan said.
"When we try to be Xerox copies of Bill Clinton, we lose
elections," he said.
Buchanan made several stops across mid-Michigan Monday, stopping
in Essexville, Gladwin, Midland and Lansing. He planned to visit
the Robinette Apple Farm in Grand Rapids this morning.
During a campaign stop at Marquiss Water Conditioning Co. &
Quality Furniture in Essexville, Buchanan said the federal
government should do more to encourage small businesses.
Store owners LeRoy and Mary Marquiss said they would like to
pass the business on to their sons, but worry about federal capital
gains and inheritance taxes.
"One of our big concerns is how you turn a small business over
to your offspring without putting a big debt," LeRoy Marquiss
said. "Pat Buchanan supports the elimination of inheritance taxes,
so we support him."
Buchanan told about 40 supporters gathered at the store that
small family-owned businesses are the foundation of jobs in America
as many Fortune 500 companies move operations abroad. That makes it
especially important that small business owners can turn over what
they have created to their children.
"That's as American as apple pie to pass on a family business
with a family name," he told the cheering supporters, many of whom
were holding "Buchanan 2000" signs.
"By God, we need you!" retired autoworker Cecil Huggerd of Van
Buren County's Bangor Township yelled as Buchanan entered the
store, thrusting his arm out for a handshake.
Huggerd, a former United Auto Workers union member who used to
be active with Bay County Democrats, said he doubts Buchanan can
win the Republican nomination.
Even so, the country needs a candidate fighting for American
workers, Huggerd said.
"The borders should be closed," he said. "We shouldn't have
jobs going out and imports coming in. It should be the other way
around."
Buchanan also stopped at the anti-abortion Shared Pregnancy
Center in Lansing, which assists women facing unplanned
pregnancies. He talked about the importance of electing a president
who would appoint anti-abortion Supreme Court justices who could
overturn the court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing
abortions.
That impressed Roslyn Personius, a mother of two who attends
classes at the center. She said she was not familiar with all the
political issues Buchanan supports, but she likes his strong
anti-abortion message.
"Since he's pro-life, yeah, I'm on his side," she said. "He's
got my vote."
Buchanan took a few shots at Michigan Gov. John Engler, in part
because of Engler's strong support for Bush, the Texas governor who
is leading Buchanan and all other Republicans in the GOP
presidential race.
Buchanan called Engler "Friar Tuck," referring to the portly
friar who accompanied Robin Hood in stories, cartoons and movies.
