Bay Buchanan Talks Romney and McCain

Matt Lewis | January 28, 2008 8:22 AM

Yesterday, I caught up with Mitt Romney supporter Bay Buchanan. Buchanan talked with me via phone from Florida, where she had just attended a

John McCain rally (she gets a better feel for the race when she sees what the enemy is up to).

As you might imagine, this outspoken conservative had a lot to say about Sen. McCain:

"We can't trust who he's going to put on the court," she says of McCain. When I ask Buchanan if McCain is a real conservative, she replies with the words one conservative reserves for another when talking about a 'squishy' Republican: "He's not one of us."

So what about the recent controversy over "timetables"? According to Buchanan, at the last debate, McCain was especially hurt by Tim Russert's question regarding McCain's admission that he didn't know as much about economics as he would like to. So why did McCain resurrect the months-old issue of timetables? Simple: "He had to change the topic," Buchanan says.

When I asked her about Romney's conservative credentials, she assures me: "He's one of us." And on the Life issue, this long-time pro-Life activist says of Romney:

Putting philosophy aside, and focusing on the horse race aspect of the campaign, Buchanan believes momentum is moving toward Mitt Romney, and that Romney is picking up most of the Fred Thompson supporters.

She also believes the endorsements McCain has received, such as Sen. Tom Coburn, Sen. Sam Brownback, Sen. Mel Martinez, and Gov. Charlie Crist, have more to do with the establishment mentality than with ideology. She reminds me: "There's a good 'ol boy attitude in the Senate." She also notes that Mitt Romney is running against Washington, and that probably bothers some of the people who are currently serving in Washington.