Pat Buchanan voices qualified support for Edwards

[Feanorcurufinwe]

Hardball, Feb. 18, 2004:

JACKSON: Let me say this.

MATTHEWS: Go ahead. Go ahead.

(CROSSTALK)

JACKSON: ... student activists and Pat Buchanan all support Edwards.

That itself is a broadening of the base.

MATTHEWS: Do you support Edwards?

BUCHANAN: I support Edwards‘ campaign, yes. I would like to see him do well. I would like to see him go forward with this issue. I would like to see him make it at the convention, because it‘s important for the country.

(CROSSTALK)

MATTHEWS: Reverend Jackson

(CROSSTALK)

JACKSON: And Pat Buchanan is closer ideologically to John Edwards than he is to George Bush. And that itself again is expanding the base.

MATTHEWS: Is that the case?

BUCHANAN: Well, if you get all—on the jobs issue, yes.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3719710

Oh you should've seen Jesse Jackson smile while Buchanan was saying that -- classic!

[Taeger]

1. Armageddon .. Cats and Dogs living together !!!!

Wow, Jesse Jackson and Pat Buchanan united against Bush. Who would have thought?????

[AngryYoungMan]

6. "So be good, for goodness' sake.... WHOOOAAHHHH......"

n/t

[BootinUp]

13. isn't that line from 12 monkeys?

seems vaguely familiar...

[MidwestTransplant]

2. I've noticed that Buchanan has been on Hardball

a lot and doesn't seem to be a big fan of Bush.

[Cuban_Liberal]

4. Buchannan doesn't like Bush at ALL

You should hear him on McLaughlin some times. He is NO friend of GWB...

[spooky3]

25. all fiscal conservatives should be VERY uncomfortable with Bush

as should foreign policy conservatives

and anyone with a brain

[jmaier]

5. He is a fierce isolationist

on foreign policy and has been stridently at odds with the neo-con/PNAC agenda. That said, he is horrific on immigration and cultural conservatism issues so we don't really want to claim him as one of our own.

[ShaneGR]

3. Buchanon has been VERY anti-bush for a while now

Though sometimes he slips, he's been particularly hard on Bush for a while. Don't forget that Buchanon's campaigns invariably involved talk of limiting free-trade, though he mixed it with some weird close down the border stuff.

It's interestign to read conservatives rip on Bush.

http://www.amconmag.com/

[JohnnyFianna1]

7. Pat and Jesse

Only one person can have both Jesse Jackason and Patrick Buchanon railing against him at the same time, the great uniter (of Democrats and Independents and Greens) George W.

[spooky3]

28. lol and welcome to DU, JF1!

[DrFunkenstein]

8. Didn't Buchanan Leave The GOP To Oppose Bush?

I'm pretty sure he went to the Reform Party in 1999.

Honestly, I completely disagree with Buchanan on almost every policy imaginable, but I see him as smart and sincere. I prefer that much more to Bush's anything-to-get-elected agenda.

And I think he's great on the MacLaughlin Group.

[foo_bar]

11. Buchanan sincere?

He outranks Lucianne Goldberg on the Nixonian GOP trickster scale. It's like saying "that G. Liddy sure tells it like it is". Buchanan joined the Reform Party to destroy it, thus allowing a 3-way with Nader.

[tritsofme]

9. They're both populists,

its just that they arrive at their ends in vastly different ways.

[flpoljunkie]

12. Edward's voting record in the Senate is not populist, only his campaign

John Edward's voting record in the Senate belies his populist rhetoric. Edwards voted for the China trade deal in 2000 and the egregious bankruptcy bill in 2001.

China trade vote: http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=106&session=2&vote=00251

Bankruptcy vote: http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=107&session=1&vote=00036

John Edward's Anti-Environmental Votes in the Senate from PIRG website:

2000

~Voted against increased funding for renewable energy

2001

~Voted to continue dumping mountain top removal waste into rivers and streams

2002

~Voted against increased renewables for energy use
~Voted against increased CAFE standards
~Voted to weaken the Safe Water Drinking Act by expanding oil/gas drilling using hydraulic fracturing
~Voted to continue factory farm subsidies, i.e. hog farms

2003

~Voted against keeping polluters responsible for pollution
~Voted to send waste to Yucca Mountain

[jpgpenn]

10. He has since Dean's campaign ending Scream!

The repukes needed a new puppet to dilute the Dem. process!

[anti-NAFTA]

14. This is basically the seal of approval as far as trade is concerned.

Anyone who gets Buchanan's support, like Gephardt and Kucinich, is probably trustworthy on the issue of trade policy.

[Leilani]

15. Pat Buchanan is part of the Paleos

& hates the NeoCons.

The Paleos are much more isolationist, against imperialism & the wars it launches. He has carried the banner against Perle, Wolfowitz, etc.
And has been accused of being an anti-Semite. I really don't think that he is. He is against putting Israel's interests ahead of the USA.

Paleos are also against Free Trade & 1 world government run for corporate interests. The Bushes hate him for running against Bush Sr.
He also ran on a very populist platform, & it's logical he would find Edwards attractive.

Buchanan opposed the Iraq war, big time, & has been hammered by the Bush bots, Freepers, & NeoCons for a long time for going off the reservation.

I don't agree with Buchanan all the time, but I respect him. He stands on his principles, even when the hate is obsessive towards him.
And he is sharp, he's forgotten more about politics than most people ever knew.

[BootinUp]

18. Yeah Pat is ok for a republican

He scares me on immigration and minority issues though.

[Leilani]

21. Pat is against open immigration

& open borders. He says that unless the borders are secure, a nation is not soverign, & I agree with that.

His argument is part of the jobs thing: illegal immigrants hold down the wages of Americans, therefore they get pounded by outsourcing, & pounded by illegal labor.

The unions used to agree with this position, until Hispanics became a major voting bloc, & they changed their stance.

I disagree with Buchanan on his rabid pro life stance; the paleos used to be libertarian about personal stuff, but now they're Fundies.

[BootinUp]

22. I have never been convinced

That our borders can be 100% secure, especially when there is a 3rd world country along a huge stretch of it. On the other hand it probably can be improved quite a bit.

I think, the best answer for illegal immigration is enforcing laws on the books with regard to companies hiring illegals and improving the documentation system such that it is much more costly to defeat with false identification.

You are much more up on Pat than I am, I was going off some vague memories. Lielani shows some political chops! :)

[Leilani]

29. Hey, thanks Jim!

I've been a political junkie my entire life.

I agree with you completely about companies & illegal immigration.
The companies are screwing American workers & exploiting illegals.
They should face stiff consequences by ignoring the law.

And you're right, the borders can never be 100% secure, but can be improved. I think Bush is really vulnerable on this issue, because he talks about homeland security, but talk is cheap.

[mouse7]

16. Well... if you were still looking for a reason to support Kerry...

...there you go.

[anti-NAFTA]

17. No, this is a reason to support Edwards.

Pat Buchanan only supports candidates who have a sensible, pro-American trade policy. Nice try, though.

[mouse7]

33. If I EVER consider voting the same as Buchanan does, kill me.

Just put me out of my freakin' misery.

Buchanan only considers candidates that put white surburban people first.

[anti-NAFTA]

19. This is important. KICK!!! eom

[corporatewhore]

20. that makes him look better in my eyes pat is good when it comes to trade

[Meldread]

23. Bump.

This speaks well for Edwards -- the fact that he can pick off some votes from Bush. (People who would otherwise stay home or vote for him simply because, to them, there was no better alternative.)

[spooky3]

24. omigosh, is PB evolving into another Arianna? How great would

that be?

I think there is some chance that could happen, since some liberals like him and may influence him a lot.

[charlie]

26. No, Pat isn't evolving

His party just moved out from under him.

[spooky3]

27. darn, it was too good to be true

[no one in particular]

30. In all fairness..

Let me preface my remarks by saying that I worked for the 1996 Buchanan campaign. Many of my views have become more liberal since then, but a few positions, i.e. abortion and immigration, are still squarely in the paleocon camp.

Anyhow...There is a large undercurrent of the population that would, if you polled them point-by-point, qualify as paleocons. Many don't vote, thinking the system is inherently corrupt, but could be persuaded to vote if issues important to them were highlighted. Such issues as free trade hurting workers, unnecessary foreign wars and fiscal policies benefiting the rich at expense of the working-class would resonate with these people and not hurt the Democratic base.

Just a thought.

On edit - Just to tweak your freeper friends, remind them Rush endorsed Buchanan in '92.

[robsul82]

31. I just remember an SNL McLaughlin Group skit...

...where Dana Carvey, playing an INSANE John, screams at Phil Hartman, playing Pat, "PATTY PATTY BUCH BUCH!" I just wonder what Pat would do if ANYONE called him "PATTY PATTY BUCH BUCH!"

Later.

RJS

[Toby109]

32. What the...?

Anybody remember his '92 convention speech?

www.buchanan.org/pa-92-0817-rnc.html

Maybe he's had a change of heart. Maybe.

[Guaranteed]

34. LOL so I guess this is a pro-Kerry post, eh, Fear?

:smoke:

[Feanorcurufinwe]

36. No

I was laughing out loud at the way Jesse 'played' Buchanan.

I wish you could have seen it. Pat was being so earnest and serious and Jackson was exhibiting such obvious glee that he had provoked those comments.

I thought folks here would enjoy it, and if anything, it's a pro-Edwards post, for the exact reasons Jesse stated: "student activists and Pat Buchanan all support Edwards. That itself is a broadening of the base."

[Meldread]

35. bump -nt-

[WiseMen]

37. Run Pat Run. America Needs You!