Sunday, Jul 6, 2008
In two separate votes, the fractured Reform Party nominates both Pat Buchanan and John Hagelin as its presidential candidate.
Aug 12, 2000 | One day after the old guard of the Reform Party once led by Ross Perot moved to split in two, the fractured groups nominated two presidential candidates in separate votes Friday. Though the results of the party's mail-in primary showed Pat Buchanan winning the nomination, both camps moved to disqualify that vote.
As the mail-in vote was announced in a state-by-state roll call at the anti-Buchanan convention led by supporters of physicist John Hagelin, the energy in the Long Beach Performing Arts Center quickly deflated. Though Jim Mangia, the newly appointed chairman of the anti-Buchanan faction of the Reform Party, made clear that Buchanan was disqualified before the ballots were announced, the crowd held out hope for the slim possibility that Hagelin might win the primary vote.
You could almost hear the spite in Connecticut delegate and former national party press secretary Donna Donovan as she stepped up to the microphone and announced "321 votes for John Hagelin, 557 for Pat Buchanan." In all, Hagelin carried only three states: Hawaii, Colorado and North Carolina.
Hagelin spokesman Robert Roth quickly called the results "meaningless" and alleged that the tally had been rigged with ballots from scores of past Buchanan supporters who were not even eligible to participate in the nominating vote. Hagelin supporters also claimed that they did not receive ballots, even though they had requested them. Mangia called the vote "co-opted and perverted."
That was a marked change from the tone sounded earlier in the day by the Hagelin hordes, who wrapped themselves in lofty principles of democracy, fairness and openness. "The difference between this convention and the Buchanan convention is we're not saying we're going to throw the vote out," Mangia said Friday morning. But just before the tally was announced, Mangia presided over a motion that disqualified Buchanan from the tally, making Hagelin's nomination, and a court battle over the $12.6 million in public funds due to the party, a foregone conclusion.
But the Buchanan foes saw no contradiction in their 180-degree turn.
"The margin of victory of Pat Buchanan in this tally is directly related to the fraudulent submission of 500,000 ballots in the Reform Party primary," Mangia said. "This is the party of integrity. We knew the results would be something similar to this. But we decided as a body to have these figures shown."
After accepting his shadow nomination, Hagelin told supporters, "I accept with humility and with pride the mantle of H. Ross Perot."
Earlier in the day, in an anticipated move, the convention convened by Buchanan supporters at the Long Beach Convention Center decided to rescind the primary altogether rather than risk a possible Hagelin upset on their convention floor. The results of that vote were held in a sealed envelope until Friday afternoon. For weeks, the Buchanan forces have cast doubts on the voting process, claiming many voters did not receive ballots, while other voters received multiple ballots.
Though the final results showed Buchanan to be the clear winner of the popular vote, the anti-Buchanan convention went about nominating Hagelin anyway. Meanwhile Pat Buchanan picked up what he claims is the real Reform Party nomination around the corner, where delegates nominated the former Republican as their presidential candidate in a floor vote.
"If the convention decides to do that, it is their right," Buchanan said Thursday when asked about the possibility of the anti-Buchanan faction of the party nullifying the primary vote. He was not immediately available for comment Friday.
Michael Ferris, chairman of the Reform Party's presidential nominating committee, admitted that the primary process was "imperfect," but added, "It will not damage the integrity of the process." Ferris said he was distraught to learn that the Buchanan faction's convention had decided to forego the primary vote. "It's sad, certainly, that a handful of delegates tried to worm their way and quash a popular vote," said Ferris.
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