The fact that Buchanan will probably have no effect on the electoral outcome in 2000 does not mean that the United States can afford to be complacent. On the contrary, Australia's lesson has been that it is not the political damage that ultimately counts. It is, rather, the social damage. The multicultural, tolerant fabric of Australian society was seriously damaged by the One Nation phenomenon in 1996-99. Racial violence and tension escalated during this time, and even though Hanson is essentially out of the picture, Australia is still grappling with these issues.

The thing which must plague the liberal Australian conscience most is that much of this harm could have been prevented. Australian community and governmental leaders failed to adequately speak out and defend the values under attack by Hanson. Some were motivated by a belief that acknowledging Hanson's remarks gave them a credence they did not deserve. Others, however, were clearly motivated by the desire not to alienate the ranks within their own party that had reservations about free trade, immigration and affirmative action. It required a new party, Unity (an small offshoot of the Labor party), to be formed in order for there to be a vocal and unremitting attack on Hanson. One cannot help but fear that this same complicit silence may descend into mainstream American politics. Given the "disappearance" of Buchanan from the mainstream press over the last month, the American conscience should be on high alert to the Australian danger.

Finally, let us examine Buchanan as hick, a fruit-loop, a crazy, lunatic cave-dweller. Unfortunately, this sort of ridicule does not work as a social value defense strategy. It does not persuade people of the benefits of open markets, international engagement, immigration, racial and religious tolerance. Satiric witticisms amuse us at Harvard (or those of us in Sydney) but simply serve to reinforce the suspicion of many Americans that the intellectual and political elite are laughing at them. Pat Buchanan is not a joke. He is a social specter hidden behind a political shroud.

Rosalind J. Dixon is a visiting student from the University of New South Wales in Australia. She is a resident of Leverett House.