In the summer of 1990, Bay [Buchanan] attended the state convention of the California Republican Party. She was surprised to spot a small group of young libertarians handing out "Buchanan for President" literature. They were marshaled by Raimondo, a gay Hispanic-American. Raimondo told Bay that her brother should enter the primaries. He understood that it would be tough--near impossible--to take the Republican nomination away from George Bush. But he had a moral duty to try. "We had to do something," said Raimondo. "We couldn't be silent, not in the face of evil--an evil that culminated...in thousands of human sacrifices on the altar of Big Oil."
"You guys are great!" said Bay. Raimondo made her promise that she would pass on their message to Pat. Months went by and Raimondo heard nothing. Somehow he got hold of Pat's fax number and published it in his small libertarian magazine. In Buchanan's study, letters started to pour out of his fax machine. They spooled out onto the floor and Buchanan scooped them up in his arms and held them up to the light. Every one read: "Run Pat, run!"
UPDATE:
I emailed Justin to get his correct ethnic background. He responded:
Italian -- or, as Ralph Raico insisted, Calabrian! Both sides. yes, I saw the book when it came out. Perils of long distance research: Stanley is a Brit.
To this day reading that Raimondo supported Pat Buchanan of all people still strikes me as odd but as the saying goes "politics makes strange bedfellows"
ReplyDeleteJustin is not a Hispanic-American. He is an Italian-American.
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