Buchanan Inc. (Page 4)

A Win-Win Situation

None of that money flows directly into Pat's pockets. But nearly all of it promotes his media career and book sales, which as of August 1999 had provided him with a net worth of more than $4.4 million. He lives in a white-columned mansion in Virginia, across the street from CIA headquarters. Senator Ted Kennedy, Gen. Colin Powell and the Rev. Sun Myung Moon live down the street.

Pat also keeps the sizable royalties from his book sales. He has published two books in the past two years: The Great Betrayal in 1998 and A Republic, Not an Empire late this past summer. Republic, a $30 hardcover, was No. 23 and climbing on the New York Times bestseller list in late October. This success is due in part to the relentless manner in which the campaign promotes Pat's book--through speeches, press releases, direct mail and via the Internet. In an e-mail distributed on September 25, for example, Pat wrote: "Reports are coming in here that giant chain bookstores are not carrying A Republic, Not an Empire. Please call your local bookstores in every city and town in America, and demand to know if they are carrying A Republic, Not an Empire, and if not, why not?"

Buchanan Inc. promotes Bay, too. Shortly after the 1996 GOP convention she replaced Mary Matalin on the talk show Equal Time, and she remains a popular guest on cable's burgeoning pundit shows. On the afternoon of President Clinton's 1998 testimony before Kenneth Starr's grand jury, the Buchanans appeared on two TV networks at the same time--Pat on MSNBC and Bay on CNN.

Bay has also feathered her nest directly. In addition to her $100,000-a-year salary as campaign manager, she paid herself an estimated $320,000 during the 1996 campaign through a media-buying company she set up on the side. Bay was owner and president of a private Virginia firm called WTS Media--after her three sons William, Tommy and Stuart--which took an 8 percent commission on the roughly $4 million worth of broadcast advertising Bay bought on behalf of the campaign. WTS had no full-time staff, no office and no clients other than the Buchanan campaign. And Bay appears prepared to do it again. Early this year, she changed the name of WTS to Carmel Consultants. Asked whether Carmel will work for the 2000 campaign, Bay said: "They could put in a proposal." Such insider dealing is legal, and officials with campaigns of both parties have done it. But--like the myriad practices of Buchanan Inc.--it seems to fly in the face of Pat Buchanan's born-again commitment to campaign reform.

Both Buchanans know Pat will never be President. Even the most optimistic polls show him finishing a distant third as Reform candidate. But Pat is visibly energized by the prospect that he could actually win a presidential nomination, a prize that has long eluded him. And within the Reform Party, even those cool to his conservative social views are eager to see him win the 5 percent of the national vote they need in order to retain their status as a major party.

The new campaign will buoy both Buchanan careers. And Bay will gain access to dozens of new state party mailing lists, contributor lists, e-mail lists and eager volunteers. That means that no matter what else happens, Buchanan Inc. wins.

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