Pat Buchanan threatened Thursday to break away from the Republican Party if he and his rambunctious followers are denied a role in the party's national convention.
And the defiant presidential hopeful continued to attack Sen. Bob Dole, the presumptive GOP nominee, saying, "He cannot beat Bill Clinton.""If they keep slamming the door in my face and they tell your people you don't want them, then you've got to think about what you're going to do," Buchanan said in morning television interviews in Toledo. "If they keep slamming the door in your face, then you've got to think about things."
Buchanan, courting religious conservatives, anti-trade and anti-immigration voters, has - without saying the words "third party" - openly flirted with the idea of an independent run in recent days in the face of a string of primary losses to Dole. As he did in 1992, the commentator is seeking a prominent role in the San Diego convention this summer.
Buchanan didn't explain why he felt he was being shut out by the Republican Party. Earlier this week, Dole made overtures to his rivals to work with him in order to defeat President Clinton in the fall.
While another GOP rival, publisher Steve Forbes, has decided to quit the race and endorse Dole to help unify the party, Buchanan said he can't lay down.
"Bob Dole, he cannot beat Bill Clinton," Buchanan said.
Buchanan complimented Forbes, however, saying he "raised a good issue. We're going to get that flat tax in the Republican platform."