Liberal Activist Fulani Resigns From Buchanan Campaign

WASHINGTON —  Liberal activist Lenora Fulani resigned from Patrick J. Buchanan’s presidential campaign and withdrew her support, saying the socially conservative candidate has divided the Reform Party by excluding other viewpoints.

In a letter announcing her resignation as campaign co-chairwoman, Fulani said Buchanan put his conservative issues above their common interests in political reform, trade and foreign policy.

“I must and do object to your efforts to transform the party into a party of, and for, only social conservatives,” Fulani wrote Buchanan on Sunday. She said Buchanan’s political maneuverings to consolidate power were “contributing to polarizing, rather than unifying the disparate forces in the party.”

Bay Buchanan, her brother’s campaign manager, said she enjoyed working with Fulani and regrets her departure. She rejected Fulani’s criticisms.

“We have not indicated that we do not welcome people with different views,” Bay Buchanan said Monday. “But clearly Pat is not going to walk away from those issues.”

Fulani, who will remain in the Reform Party, also complained that Buchanan and his sister refused to support her bid to become the national chairwoman of the party founded by Ross Perot.

In an interview Monday, Fulani said she met with Buchanan on Thursday and discussed her feelings about the campaign, specifically whom he might choose as a running mate. Fulani had hoped he would consider choosing someone more liberal.