Patrick Buchanan has secured the presidential nomination of the Reform Party and is soon to be in command of $12.6 million in federal campaign funds. Recovering from gallbladder surgery, Buchanan has announced that he will open this new phase of his campaign with an appearance at Bob Jones University. “I thought it would send the right message that first, I stand by my friends,” Buchanan said.
Catholic League president William Donohue didn’t see it that way:
“When George W. Bush went to Bob Jones University, he did so as part of a typical stop made by political hopefuls who campaign in South Carolina. He later regretted the way he handled this visit and thus put the issue behind him. But the situation with Pat Buchanan is different: of all the places in the United States to restart his campaign, Buchanan has deliberately chosen to go to Bob Jones University so he can ‘stand by his friends.’ Then let him stand alone, without any support from Catholics.
“Since the school was the subject of controversy last winter, it has relaxed its policy on interracial dating, but has done nothing to change its anti-Catholic image. But this is of no consequence to Buchanan who, in fact, says he is ‘offended’ by the negative media the school has received. That his fellow Catholics have every right to be offended by the rank anti-Catholicism that marks Bob Jones University seems not to matter. Moreover, one wonders why Buchanan isn’t offended by those who call his religion the ‘Mother of Harlots.’
“Buchanan is not alone among Catholics who have no problem recognizing anti-Catholicism when it stems from the academy or Hollywood, but are utterly unable to do so when it comes from their ‘friends.’ The Catholic League does not suffer from this disability and that is why we will continue to denounce anti-Catholic bigotry independent of its origins.”
