Is Buchanan Running The Country

Around the country last week, editorial pages began asking the real Bush to stand up. The New York Times labeled him “President Noodle” for his “appalling lack of conviction.” In the White House press corps, reporters began to joke mordantly that it was a good thing Buchanan didn’t call for nuclear war, or the president might have reached for that hot button, too.

Hard as Bush tried to court conservatives, however, his own staffers worried that his message was not stirring voters. As the president flew around the South on the eve of Super Tuesday, his aides fell to backbiting and media-bashing. Campaign chief Robert Mosbacher publicly chastised aides for insisting that Bush remain on the road when he has “a million things to do” back in Washington. The president’s usually affable spokesman, Marlin Fitzwater, erupted when a reporter wrote that Bush’s crowds were “nondescript.” The press secretary pulled the plug on a PA system to the traveling press corps’s temporary newsroom and railed, “I’m sick of you lazy bastards. " Bush griped to aides that he wasn’t sure what he was accomplishing, racing from event to event, but he doggedly stuck to his script. “Life means nothing without fidelity to principles,” he told home builders in South Carolina. Then, without missing a beat, he reminded his audience that he had proposed tax breaks for first-time home buyers, the better to stimulate the beleaguered real-estate industry.

Back in Washington, the president’s men worked to buy off the right. Attorney General William Barr killed the expected nomination of a highly respected New York lawyer, James Benkard, to head the Justice Department’s environmental division. Why.? A conservative foundation disliked the fact that Benkard had been a trustee for an environmental group. At the Environmental Protection Agency, regulators prepared to drop a pollution-control proposal opposed by the auto industry-just in time for the March 17 Michigan primary. At the Office of Management and Budget, director Richard Darman, a target of conservatives for his willingness to raise taxes, had to fear for his job. Darman is a wily survivor, but some White House aides predicted he would be gone by summer.

Has Bush been born again as a conservative? Not to worry, say his aides. Once Buchanan is defeated, Bush will be a moderate again. Many in the White House expect the Democratic primaries to push Bill Clinton, whom they rate as the likeliest nominee, to the left in order to win over the party’s traditional constituencies. “The moderates will be left in suspended animation for us to pick up,” says a senior Bush adviser. But the cynical maneuvering could cost Bush with voters; it only reinforces the view that he has no real beliefs.

In the meantime, Pat Buchanan is playing Bush like a puppet. “We’re driving the national debate,” he crowed last week. “There’s no question about it.” Tossing Frohnmayer over the side of the NEA didn’t pacify Pat. “When I’m president, I’m going to shut the place down, padlock it and fumigate it,” he said. Buchanan knows he has no chance to win the nomination, but he shows no signs of giving up.

The White House is left begging for peace and quietly asking what the challenger really wants. (“A talk show of his own,” grumbled a senior staffer.) Bush says he will bury the hatchet with Buchanan after the primary season. So why does Buchanan persist in being so personal now, calling Bush “King George” and insisting that he step down? In part, Buchanan just loves a fight. But he also sees himself, like Barry Goldwater in 1964, as a martyr to a Cause That Will Not Die. When that cause is reborn-in, say, 1996-Buchanan plans on being its champion.

title: “Is Buchanan Running The Country " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-23” author: “Terry Callender”

Around the country last week, editorial pages began asking the real Bush to stand up. The New York Times labeled him “President Noodle” for his “appalling lack of conviction.” In the White House press corps, reporters began to joke mordantly that it was a good thing Buchanan didn’t call for nuclear war, or the president might have reached for that hot button, too.

Hard as Bush tried to court conservatives, however, his own staffers worried that his message was not stirring voters. As the president flew around the South on the eve of Super Tuesday, his aides fell to backbiting and media-bashing. Campaign chief Robert Mosbacher publicly chastised aides for insisting that Bush remain on the road when he has “a million things to do” back in Washington. The president’s usually affable spokesman, Marlin Fitzwater, erupted when a reporter wrote that Bush’s crowds were “nondescript.” The press secretary pulled the plug on a PA system to the traveling press corps’s temporary newsroom and railed, “I’m sick of you lazy bastards. " Bush griped to aides that he wasn’t sure what he was accomplishing, racing from event to event, but he doggedly stuck to his script. “Life means nothing without fidelity to principles,” he told home builders in South Carolina. Then, without missing a beat, he reminded his audience that he had proposed tax breaks for first-time home buyers, the better to stimulate the beleaguered real-estate industry.

Back in Washington, the president’s men worked to buy off the right. Attorney General William Barr killed the expected nomination of a highly respected New York lawyer, James Benkard, to head the Justice Department’s environmental division. Why.? A conservative foundation disliked the fact that Benkard had been a trustee for an environmental group. At the Environmental Protection Agency, regulators prepared to drop a pollution-control proposal opposed by the auto industry-just in time for the March 17 Michigan primary. At the Office of Management and Budget, director Richard Darman, a target of conservatives for his willingness to raise taxes, had to fear for his job. Darman is a wily survivor, but some White House aides predicted he would be gone by summer.

Has Bush been born again as a conservative? Not to worry, say his aides. Once Buchanan is defeated, Bush will be a moderate again. Many in the White House expect the Democratic primaries to push Bill Clinton, whom they rate as the likeliest nominee, to the left in order to win over the party’s traditional constituencies. “The moderates will be left in suspended animation for us to pick up,” says a senior Bush adviser. But the cynical maneuvering could cost Bush with voters; it only reinforces the view that he has no real beliefs.

In the meantime, Pat Buchanan is playing Bush like a puppet. “We’re driving the national debate,” he crowed last week. “There’s no question about it.” Tossing Frohnmayer over the side of the NEA didn’t pacify Pat. “When I’m president, I’m going to shut the place down, padlock it and fumigate it,” he said. Buchanan knows he has no chance to win the nomination, but he shows no signs of giving up.

The White House is left begging for peace and quietly asking what the challenger really wants. (“A talk show of his own,” grumbled a senior staffer.) Bush says he will bury the hatchet with Buchanan after the primary season. So why does Buchanan persist in being so personal now, calling Bush “King George” and insisting that he step down? In part, Buchanan just loves a fight. But he also sees himself, like Barry Goldwater in 1964, as a martyr to a Cause That Will Not Die. When that cause is reborn-in, say, 1996-Buchanan plans on being its champion.