RIGHT WING columnist Pat Buchanan upset predictions in yesterday's New Hampshire Republican primary election, running ahead of front runner Senator Bob Dole, with almost two thirds of the votes counted.
Senator Dole, the favourite of the party establishment, who predicted recently that whoever won New Hampshire would win the Republican nomination, was unable to break free from the field of eight candidates.
At Buchanan headquarters in Manchester, the candidate joined supporters to sing "God Bless America, my own sweet home," and shouted their war cry "Go Pat Go" as early results showed the right wing candidate surging ahead.
He said his showing was a victory for the cause of a brand new, bold conservatism in American politics "that gives voice to the voiceless that speaks up for the right to life of the innocent unborn, and for men and woman whose jobs have been sacrificed on the altars of trade deals".
It was a victory for the "good men and women of middle America who do not understand why there is silence in Washington "at the fall in their standard of living".
"We're conservatives of the heart. We do not apologise for the fact that we are going to take control of American borders . . . and young Americans will never again be put under UN command," he said to loud cheers. "We're going on to the White House."
With 70 per cent of the vote counted, Mr Buchanan was leading Mr Dole by 27 per cent to 26 per cent, followed by former Tennessee Governor, Mr Lamar Alexander, at 23 per cent. Publisher Mr Steve Forbes had 12 per cent. Senator Richard Lugar had 6 per cent.
The voting leaves the race for the 1996 Republican presidential nomination wide open, and elevates Mr Alexander to the status of serious contender for the nomination after one of the closest fought and most bitter primary elections in the history of the Republican Party.
The shock waves of Mr Buchanan's high showing will be felt throughout the party, where economic conservatives are uneasy with the protectionist, nativist and right win social policies of the Washington based commentator.
Mr Buchanan (57) campaigned as an America first champion of the Christian right, opposed to abortion and free trade. He won preliminary contests in Alaska and Louisiana and finished second to Senator Dole in the Iowa caucuses.
The result is a major boost for the campaign of Mr Alexander, who came from the ranks of outsiders to finish third in the Iowa Republican caucuses earlier this month. Opinion polls had predicted he would get some 17 per cent.
But for Mr Dole, who wanted a clear victory in New Hampshire to confirm his claim to the nomination, the indecisive result was yet another blow to his presidential ambitions in the New England state which caused his defeat in 1980 and 1988.
The 72 year old Senate Majority leader, though politically wounded by his ordeal, will continue to chase the nomination through more than 20 state primaries and caucuses in the coming month to determine who will compete in November with President Clinton, who had no serious opposition in the New Hampshire Democratic primary.
The result will delight the White House which does not see Mr Buchanan as a serious presidential opponent.
The New Hampshire primary traditionally confers prestige and momentum to the winner, and going back to 1952, has produced the winner of the Republican nomination.
During the campaign, Mr Dole shifted from moderate conservatism to embrace the far right and hold off the challenge of Mr Buchanan.
The New Hampshire election effectively bursts the bubble of popularity enjoyed in the early days by the wealthy publisher, Mr Steve Forbes. He led the polls three weeks ago but his support had slipped steadily as the novelty of his flat tax idea wore off.
The last week of the primary campaign showed a remarkable rise in the fortunes of Mr Lamar Alexander (55), a former governor of Tennessee, who ran as a Washington outsider.
At stake in New Hampshire were 16 delegates to the August 12th-15th Republican national convention, where 1,990 delegates will formally select the party's presidential nominee.
Mr Clinton had no serious opposition on the Democratic ballot but came to New Hampshire over the weekend to urge Democrats to vote for him against his enemies of cynicism and apathy.