UPDATE: The McCain campaign says she never "worked" for Buchanan and there's no evidence she raised money or donated to him. After the AP article I cite below, she wrote a letter to the editor saying she was wearing the button simply to "welcome" Buchanan to town.

Very quickly. Remember when Pat Buchanan ran a number of hard-right, fringe campaigns for president in the late 1980s, 1990s and 2000? Well, guess who was supporting him:

From an AP report in 1999:

"Pat Buchanan brought his conservative message of a smaller government and an America First foreign policy to Fairbanks and Wasilla on Friday as he continued a campaign swing through Alaska. Buchanan's strong message championing states rights resonated with the roughly 85 people gathered for an Interior Republican luncheon in Fairbanks. … Among those sporting Buchanan buttons were Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin and state Sen. Jerry Ward, R-Anchorage."

In fact, a very committed Buchananite Buchanan himself told me he was thrilled by the choice, saying as soon as I mentioned it: "It's great for the base. I'm pretty sure she's a Buchananite!"

People seem to be missing the fact that this is a classic, Rovian appease-the-base choice.

UPDATE: James Antle at the American Spectator rightly points out that while Buchanan considered a 1988 run for the presidency he didn't pursue it. My bad.

Comments (25)

1. Buchanan is a protectionist. Obama sounded like a protectionist in his acceptance speech.

   Maybe Obama should have picked Palin as HIS VP.

   She's far and away the best looking of the four.....

   Posted by bleedingheart at 08/29/2008 @ 3:03pm

2. Yay for Buchanan! It just keeps getting sweeter.

   Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/29/2008 @ 3:07pm

3. to a major degree, alaska as oil pipeline is the major reason she is chosen; future wars will be over oil/water, even current wars as russia mainly trying to secure pipelines in georgia as stranglehold over europe, israel doing same to lebanan/syrai controlling water, turkey controlling tigris/euphrates building dams stopppign water to iraq, etc. etc. etc.

   Anti-bush is changing geopolitics: Iran, venezuela, russia all turning eastward to asia and especially china, and away from US, which is why bush would rather all arctic melt and put some oil rigs down, better yet as pal satan has done, she just approved thousands of miles of new pipelines through alaska, nowhere in the lexicon of gdp, does innovation, conservation, diversification, renewable energy, sustainability play ANY ROLE WHATSOEVER; it doesn't now, it won't in the future....that being said, it is close or is at peak oil, when the simple prospect of a hurricane thousands of miles away can immediately jack up price of oil, you will see it is a house of cards...the goal is not world war over oil, but diversification and thinking outside box, sustainability, conservation, new sources of energy to free us from foreign oil, as Obama has said over and over and over and over choose wisely....

   Posted by jrs112 at 08/29/2008 @ 4:03pm

4. The choice of Palin is sweet. Have any of you gone to video and listened to her schoolgirl persona? She's awful. And now I learn she loves Buchanan, calls Hillary a whiner, supports drilling in ANWR, wants to eliminate Roe Vs. Wade. It's as if Paris Hilton morphed into Sarah Palin, though Hilton, when she did her mock Presidential ad, had a better policy sense than Palin does. This is about as cynical as it gets, and what's worse is how patronizing it is to women. They're supposed to vote for Palin now because he put a woman on the ticket who can fetch him coffee and be coquettish in the White House? Give me a break. This is like McCain standing in that green room looking sick.

   On the other hand, it's the first thing most voters, who haven't been paying attention, will notice, and the MSM will it give it good, positive play to reinforce the "maverick" image of the old fart. That may work for a while, but I'm thinking it will end up backfiring big time.

   Posted by TheBigAl at 08/29/2008 @ 4:27pm

5. She was chosen simply to bring conservatives back to the Republicans. And it'll work.

   Here's the deal. Democrats are incapable of comprehending that millions of Americans actually believe in God. Not like Pelosi believe in God, but actually believe in God. That millions of Americans actually believe in the Bible. And they live it even though they know they're sinners. Every one of them can see through the bulls**t, dime store christianity peddled by liberals.

   These millions know that if you are pro-choice you cannot possibly be a true Christian.

   Palin is not pro-choice.

   Get ready for "What's the Matter with Kansas? Volume II" because you just don't get it. It's not about race or gender, it is about eternity.

   Posted by freiheit1 at 08/29/2008 @ 4:46pm

6. Oh, and Pat Buchanan ROCKS! He is the most effective anti-Bush activist in the world! If Palin is a Buchananite, that's a positive.

   Posted by freiheit1 at 08/29/2008 @ 4:51pm

7. Posted by jrs112 at 08/29/2008 @ 4:03pm

   touche

   Posted by leftofcenter at 08/29/2008 @ 4:51pm

8. Metteya wrote;

   "It's "appease the base, while reaching out to women who would vote for a vagina rather than vote for their best economic and social interests"."

   That sums it up completlely. You can reconstruct the guys' reasoning from their VP picks. In the case of Obama, he clearly had in mind the fact that he doesn't have a wealth of experience, so he sought someone who would help him be a better president. In the case of McCain, this woman brings absolutely nothing to the table in that regard. His mind was focussed entirely, and cynically, on who might help him get *elected* president, at any cost.

   Posted by oisin at 08/29/2008 @ 7:16pm

9. http://tinyurl.com/6yd5qr

   Posted by leftofcenter at 08/29/2008 @ 9:24pm

10. Sarah is an excellent choice ... for Obama/Biden.

    The debate with Biden should be good clean fun.

    Enjoy!

    But pay attention to the senate & house elections that count.

    Posted by sloper at 08/30/2008 @ 05:54am

11. Remember when John Edwards ran a number of hard-left, fringe campaigns in the 2000's?

    Well, guess who was supporting him?

    Posted by pjsbro at 08/30/2008 @ 06:00am

12. Anyone who is influenced in the slightest by a candidate picking a philosophical opposite as his running mate is such a fool that they shouldn't be allowed to vote in the first place.

    If you don't like the Presidential candidate, you should not be reassured by him picking someone to placate you.

    Bush didn't make Reagan more Liberal.

    Quayle didn't make Bush more Conservative.

    Kemp didn't make Dole less Liberal.

    And, to the limited extent that Palin is a Buchananite, she does not even microscopically make McCain any less Liberal, any saner on foreign policy, any more pro-life, et cetera.

    But, worse, it's simply insulting pandering...he hopes to rope the fools who think Hillary was robbed of a suicidal nomination into voting for him out of Affirmative Action stupidity.

    Let's hope that anyone who votes for McCain because of Palin is incapable of producing offspring.

    Posted by kazvorpal at 08/30/2008 @ 09:37am

13. freiheit-The vast majority of Christians,on both sides of the fence,have never read the Bible and make no attempt to live any of it because they have no clue as to what is in the Bible nor do Christians have the same view of God and one cannot say that one side believes in the real God,but the other side doesn't since they don't agree amongst themselves as to the true nature of God..

    Posted by i'm nobody at 08/30/2008 @ 11:41am

14. Posted by i'm nobody at 08/30/2008 @ 11:41am

    You are spot on there! But that's not my point.

    Posted by freiheit1 at 08/30/2008 @ 4:53pm

15. Posted by freiheit1 at 08/29/2008 @ 4:46pm

    It amazes me that you can cherrypick your sins. John and Cindy McCain both were involved in an adulterous relationship-a no-no that is also one of the Ten Commandments. This does not bother right wingers, though the Bible says Cindy should be stoned to death for her part in it.

    I think the menfolk were allowed to sacrifice a goat or something, but it has been a while since I read Leviticus. I stopped reading Deuteronomy and Leviticus when I realized I could not give up shellfish or having sex when the spirit moved me.

    Posted by Pogge at 08/30/2008 @ 9:48pm

16. Oyster.....quite right. Here is the "upgrade"

    http://home.avenuebroadband.com/~dvaughn58/GOP2008.html

    Posted by leftofcenter at 08/30/2008 @ 10:07pm

17. A new Nation article quotes the REPUBLICAN Alaska Senate leader: Palin is not qualified to run a state, let alone a country!

    Alaska may well go for Sen. Obama, partly because they like her there but think this is NUTS! This says a great deal about McCain for chosing her after one brief meeting months ago, and Palin for the ego-manic idea she knows anything about the federal government. She said recently she had no idea what a VP does! Yikes, don't most high school students?

    Posted by Richard7 at 08/31/2008 @ 01:16am

18. RED FLAG!!! Buchanan busting a gut praising a substanceless trophy puppet.

    Here's from a blogger buddy:

    "** Palin just another cynical choice **

    Palin is as cynical a choice for VP as Thomas was for the Supreme Court. And for exactly the same reason. Thomas will never grow into the shoes of Thurgood Marshall. He was chosen as a highly atypical African American who would trample the hard won gains of the civil rights era.

    Palin is a few feet shy of the stature to take over the presidency. She was chosen as an atypical woman who would trample the hard won gains of women"s rights.

    Palin"s views, like those of Thomas, are far right. Both of them are "small" intellectually and morally. Their xianity is not a substitute for foreign or public policy. McCain capitulated to the death impulse of those deluded enough to imagine that "End Times" are here. (Again? How many times does that make just since 1000 CE?)

    Now, the choice is stark. McCain-Palin and a continued assault on the Constitution by ignorant, arrogant "servants" of the President. Or, Obama-Biden and a chance to undo the harm suffered by the Republic from the Bush-Cheney thugs."

    bipolar2 (HuffPost)

    Posted by PrairieDeb at 08/31/2008 @ 04:02am

19. The Republicans are the party of double standards; the party of hypocrisy. Our successful two term president was harassed relentlessly for lying about a personal indiscretion.

    Republicans then lie us into a war.

    Republicans rail about Obama's lack of experience.

    Then select somebody with NO FOREIGN AFFAIRS EXPERIENCE AT ALL.

    Republicans infer that Democrats are baby killers.

    Then they bomb a country to obliteration, destabilizing their security and treasures (except the oil fields) and inciting civil violence that makes going to the market for food a life risking proposition.

    Words of Diversity drip off of their lips like honey from a bear's claw, and then they ruin Powel and Rice with tasks that discredit them throughout generations.

    They claim to be inclusive of women, and then hire utterly unprepared and under qualified women when capable women are abundant.

    They are hypocrites and disingenuous power mongers, and are bewildered by the fact that the American people are educated enough and wise enough to see through their lies.

    The Audacity of Truth Rises

    Obama/Biden '08

    Posted by PrairieDeb at 08/31/2008 @ 04:05am

20. As an ex GOP moderate I'm afraid that the far right, "the base", has become so "pulpitized" by the abortion question that reasoning is the last thing in their quiver of logic. You don't need an I.Q test to be a far right Christian. These people know exactly what Jesus would say and how he looked. They have a Polaroid portrait of the man on their mantle. He is six feet tall, blond and blue eyed. Life begins at conception and the earth is flat. And, by the way, Cain was black. And any one who votes for a pro choice candidate will not get communion and will be ex-communicated. Here is what I don't understand, when I was growing up, if a baby died before he/she was baptized their souls went to limbo (i.e. they were non entities). How come now babies are suddenly human the moment people decide to have sex? Didn't China try that? Every time a woman menstruates she committing murder? I think Sarah Palin is an interesting and colorful person, but I don't think she is ready to be a co leader of "the most powerful country" with her hand on the nuclear button. I like George Wills and"Cookie" Roberts but they really had to stretch this morning in supporting this choice. I think Sarah has spent to much time on the permafrost.

    Posted by lachatte at 08/31/2008 @ 11:30am

21. I find it interesting that the option of installing palin as the veep comes so soon after obama articulated his real and nuanced view of abortion in our nation. the far right has used their completely polarized view of the rvw debate to scare hesitant rationalists into thier voting base (partial-birth abortion, genetic pick a part babies, etc). obama's vision of an america-- where we can get past the black and white and start some real progress at a common ground, has threatened to steal those votes away. palin represents a saftey net ultra-life pick. she is a)female b)working mother c)defemnder of her own difficult pregnancy with the reality of her premie/downs son. the mccain camp can now wave the flag of "not an old white guy" and pretend (i stress pretend)to have their own nuanced discussion of a nuanced and difficult issue.

    Posted by leftaloneinaseaofwrong at 08/31/2008 @ 6:03pm

22. McCain has made a real blunder That has made the whole country wonder, Was she the best pick This chick from the sticks To lead us when he's six feet under?

    Posted by limerica at 08/31/2008 @ 7:57pm

23. Palin investigation info on local AK TV channel 11

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UJ-MHz90TY

    Posted by leftofcenter at 08/31/2008 @ 8:09pm

24. Both parties better crap or get off the pot and tell me how they are really going to pay for their programs. Does anyone know how Obama is going to pay for health care? Is it true he wants to basically do away with people paying taxes because they make less than 50K a year? How is Mccain going to balance our budget? protect us from terrorists. Get us out of Iraq or finish the job there. Get drilling for oil while we figure out other means of energy? Pay for the crap he wants? I have to admit I really don't know who to vote for. On the one hand we have a proven senator, war veteran, old republican who picks a female unknown outsider, which I am intrigued by. Then on the other hand, we have a young, energetic, sell me the world, and an old guy running with him, who I've never liked (biden). These guys better start answering quick, or I'll just flip a coin in November.

    Posted by whoeverin08 at 09/02/2008 @ 7:22pm

25. well after seeing the speech of Palin last night and reading some more on what she said about Obama which I knew, but needed a nudge to research it. I'm on the GOP side this time. What an uplifting speech last night. Finally a politician that doesn't make me sick; and that's both Donkey's and Elephants

    Posted by whoeverin08 at 09/04/2008 @ 8:27pm