AFTER HE'S GONE
In the opening pages of his 1988 memoir Right from the Beginning, Patrick J. Buchanan described his differences with Jack Kemp — among them, that Kemp had acquired the congressional vice of calling everybody "my good friend." The air has been thick with "my good friend" in recent weeks, directed by various Republican worthies at Buchanan, whom they implore to remain with the GOP. Neither Buchanan nor his followers can be impressed by this performance, especially since the worthies in question previously treated him with disdain.

The truth is, Republicans cannot do much to affect Buchanan's decision. For that reason, it would be pointless to continue begging Buchanan to stay. The other approach Republicans have taken — telling him to go, and good riddance — is equally pointless. The strategic imperative is rather to formulate a response for the aftermath of his departure.

The temptation for the presumptive nominee, George W. Bush, will be to use Buchanan to burnish his own centrist credentials. The emerging line among Republican officialdom is that Buchanan's departure will actually help Bush: When Democrats accuse Bush of extremism, he can point to Buchanan's exit as evidence that the "far Right" actually opposes him.

This strategy would probably backfire, benefiting Buchanan and hurting Bush. Conservatives of all stripes are used to being attacked as "divisive," "extremists," on the "far right," etc. Attacking Buchanan with what he once called "the swear words of the establishment" will only make him more attractive to the people who might be debating whether to vote for him. These are people who feel affection toward Buchanan as a person, even if they have not followed him on his peculiar course. They will interpret the attacks as proof that Buchanan is with them — and that Bush is not.

This kind of attack, far from refuting Democratic arguments, would tend to confirm them. If opposition to abortion per se makes Buchanan "extreme" — which it certainly does in the eyes of the media — it makes Bush "extreme" too. Ditto for Buchanan's positions on racial preferences, gay rights, bilingual education, etc., which if they are not Bush's positions are certainly those of the Republican party as a whole. Buchanan's restrictionist position on immigration is not "extreme"; several polls suggest it is the position of a large majority of the public and even of most immigrants, backed by the common-sense insight, unrelated to race, that there is a limit to the assimilative powers even of America. Buchanan's protectionism, too, is shared by large segments of the public. Those of Buchanan's positions that deserve to be criticized are not so much "extreme" as wrong, destructive, and untrue to conservative traditions. That is the case Republicans should be making about Buchanan. It is not one they can make by calling him a far-right extremist.

AND...
For more analysis of the Buchanan situation, check out the latest issue of NR.