Letter: Which side is Buchanan on?

BILL KAUFFMAN'S profile of the Republican Pat Buchanan ("The only left- wing candidate", 4 July) was misleading on at least two counts. First, to confuse Buchanan's new-found anti-imperialism with the broad anti-capitalism of socialists such as Eugene Debs is a serious error. It ignores the other elements of Buchanan's politics that place him firmly on the right rather than the left - such as his opposition to reproductive rights, affirmative action and gun control, to name a few - and it overlooks the fact that the loudest American opposition to Nato's adventure in the Balkans has come from the right wing of the Republican Party. As in Blair's Britain, American liberals, even the self-identified left-liberals, have consistently lent support to action against the Serbs.

Second, the notion that Buchanan is the left in America is ludicrous. In terms of media politics, the figure of Jesse Jackson looms large. His ability to mobilise the African-American and Hispanic vote has served to remind the Democratic Party that in many urban areas and a number of key states it must give at least lip-service to its Rooseveltian social- democratic heritage from which the Clinton/ Gore wing wishes to distance itself. Similarly, a parliamentary left can be found by looking at the Black Congressional Caucus and, especially, the brave dissenting voices heard from Vermont's Bernie Sanders and (until his recent retirement) California's Ron Dellums. Kauffman might also have noted the activities of the revived labour movement under John Sweeny (the AFL-CIO looks positively healthy when compared to the TUC).

Labour leaders' distrust of Buchanan is motivated, in part, by the potent appeal populist rhetoric and quick-fix solutions have among beleaguered blue-collar voters. But US labour's opposition to Buchanan and his ilk is also rooted in its disgust at the race-baiting that historically has been at the core of the populists' overture to the white working class.

RICK HALPERN

University College London

London WC1