In the 1992 primary campaign Buchanan was thought to be the conservative alternative to the RINO Bush.
That was when many discovered they were incorrect about his conservative credentials.
By whom in particular?
Nobody thought of him as a Reagan type, to be sure. His sympathies lie with European political Catholicism more than with the US Constitution, and he’s quite the Beltway insider.
Back when he worked for Nizon, he was in charge of crafting a strategy that would make his employer attractive to Democrats. He needed his sister’s influence to join Reagan’s camp too.