ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 18, 1996 TAG: 9604180071
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
Republican presidential candidate Patrick Buchanan all but closed the door on a third-party candidacy Wednesday but promised to wage a national issue-oriented campaign aimed at moving his party closer to some of his conservative positions in advance of the GOP convention.
Buchanan, who has conceded the nomination to Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole, also said he had decided not to campaign in the upcoming Pennsylvania primary - even though he believed he could do well in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh - because it might look as if he was trying to weaken Dole.
At a news conference Wednesday, he declined to draw direct contrasts with Dole - or criticize his viability as the party's standard-bearer - and said he would focus his efforts on using ``our influence and voice inside the Republican Party to try to change its direction'' and added: ``We are acknowledging right now that we're not deliberately working on a third-party campaign.''
- The Washington Post
LENGTH: Short : 30 lines KEYWORDS: POLITICS PRESIDENTby CNB