Is Pat Buchanan Runing For The Senate?



(image via timeinc)

Does Pat Buchanan want to run for the Senate seat of the retiring John Warner? Buchanan, who has run for President several times -- most disasterously with a basketcase as his running mate (Who ever heard of an African-American John Bircher?!)-- has reportedly made a small fortune in gold futures and may be ready to try for a more achievable electoral office. The caustic Buchanan has a record a mile long on subjects as sensitive as race relations (In the mid 1970s Buchanan disgustingly lobbied then-President Ford to make him Ambassador to apartheid South Africa), Mexican immigration, and, of course, anti-semitism (which has led Bill Buckley, a sometime ally of his, once argued that "it impossible to defend Pat Buchanan against the charge" of anti-Semitism. From theHill:

"Three front-runners have emerged in the nearly two weeks since Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) announced his retirement, but there is no shortage of potential candidates quietly weighing their options on the state’s first open seat in 20 years. Former Gov. Mark Warner (D) is expected to announce his 2008 Senate plans this week, while Rep. Tom Davis (R) and former Gov. Jim Gilmore (R) are expected to make their intentions official in the coming months.

"Another name making the rounds is former GOP presidential candidate Pat Buchanan, who last week had a newspaper column urging him to run posted to his website. Calls to Buchanan were not returned by press time."

Buchanan, though, is an anti-war Republican. And in Virginia, that may work in his favor (For further reference, see Jim Webb, an antiwar Republican who ran as a Democrat). The race -- if that is what Buchanan wants -- may well turn on how anti-illegal immigration sentiment -- a Pat Buchanan signature issue -- plays in Northern Virginia, or, as political scientists like to designate it, "NorVa."

Would a Buchanan candidacy --and Edwards surge in Nevada and Iowa -- signal a new Populist Era?