Working out of the Talk Radio News Service row here in Manchester, New Hampshire, I ran across Pat Buchanan, who, 12 years ago, delivered quite a surprise to G.O.P. leaders when he won the 1996 New Hampshire primary. Yesterday afternoon, when he finished up a long interview with a Boston radio station, I tailed after him and his lovely wife, Shelley, as they made a break for the parking garage. Buchanan told me that his sympathies were with Mike Huckabee, saying that "the Republican Party establishment" found itself a bit "shaken up" by former Arkansas governor's win in Iowa. "As they were by your New Hampshire win," I said. Buchanan smiled. "I know what's in store for him," he said, laughing. Sen. John McCain, who is expected to win today's New Hampshire primary, is not exactly a favorite of the establishment, either, Buchanan reminded me. McCain is not loved by conservatives, Buchanan said, "and Sen. McCain doesn't have a lot of friends in the Senate." Mitt Romney, expected to come in second in New Hampshire, is another story. "Romney could make it," Buchanan said. I was about to ask him what had to change in the Republican Party establishment in order to prevent future insurgents from catching fire, when he headed for the men's room. I was about to follow him in; then I remembered I was a girl. --Adele M. Stan
