Positioning for 2000

WASHINGTON, D.C.: Pat Buchanan continues his battle to ensure the anti-abortion plank in the GOP's platform remains firmly nailed down. On Friday, Buchanan spoke to a crowd of 400 in Washington, vowing to pressure Bob Dole not to give in to the more moderate elements in the Republican party. "I thought the battle was completely won...but apparently it is going to be fought again," said Buchanan. "And if it is fought, we expect to go to the convention and win that battle as we had before." Despite Buchanan's words, TIME's Michael Duffy says that there is no real division between the GOP candidate and Buchanan on the abortion issue. "Dole agrees with Buchanan on this issue and has no intention of removing the anti- abortion plank from the GOP platform," says Duffy. "The moderate Republicans, for all their stances, aren't counting on a fight during this convention. They are setting the stage for 2000." California Governor Pete Wilson took the opposite position in that struggle earlier in the week when he said that he would work with New York and New Jersey's governors to drop anti-abortion language from the party's platform in San Diego.