Will the real nominee please stand up?

In the end, the dueling Reform Party conventions proceeded as expected Friday -- one nominating Pat Buchanan, the other John Hagelin -- as the two sides headed toward a showdown before the Federal Election Commission.

FEC spokesman Ian Stirton said that $12.6 million in federal funds awaits the person who submits a formal certificate of nomination from the Reform Party. Both Buchanan and Hagelin are expected to submit such certificates sometime this weekend. The FEC then has 10 days to determine which certificate is legitimate. After the ruling, the loser has 15 days to file an appeal.

"This was never intended to be a quick process," Stirton said, adding that he did not know if the FEC's commissioners would attempt to expedite the decision-making process because of the rapid approach of the November elections.

There has been so much infighting at this gathering that it's hard to tell this is about politics anymore. This Reform Party Convention, as much as the Democratic or Republican conventions, has blurred the lines of politics and entertainment -- especially if your idea of entertainment is watching a good bout of mud wrestling, with a $12.6 million purse.

This has been a media-driven event from the start, and nobody understands that better than former television personality Pat Buchanan. So to kick down a slab of raw meat to the insatiable media beast in Long Beach, Buchanan introduced his running mate today -- Los Angeles anti-immigration activist Ezola Foster. Foster, a former public school teacher from Los Angeles is African-American, making her, in Buchanan's words, "the first black lady to run on a major party ticket." She supported Buchanan in 1996, and played a prominent role in passing California's Proposition 187, a ballot measure that sought to eliminate social benefits to illegal immigrants. But anyone who thinks Foster is not on the ticket primarily because she's a black woman is crazy enough to be ... a member of the Reform Party.

Foster has never held public office, but ran against Rep. Maxine Waters twice in the 1980s. She was described by Buchanan as a "polemicist and controversialist."

With the selection of Foster, Buchanan challenged critics who have often referred to him as racist, saying Foster would "contradict all the myths that have surrounded this party."

Inside the Buchanan convention hall, members were thrilled about the selection of Foster. "She's a patriot of the first order," said Evelyn Miller, a member of the anti-immigration group Save Our State. "I'd vote for her for anything." Miller said she and Foster have worked together for years on immigration issues, and blame illegal immigration for everything from high electricity bills to traffic jams and public healthcare costs. "Illegal aliens have absolutely ruined L.A. Unified" School District," she said.

In 1998, Foster told the San Diego Union Tribune that "public education is overrun with homosexuals, abortion counselors and mind-control freaks."

Today, she affirmed her support for restricting immigration, the right to fly the Confederate flag and "protecting America's sovereignty" by rescinding trade deals and diminishing the power of the United Nations.

Hagelin, meanwhile, said he would announce his vice presidential nominee Saturday. But most believe he will tap Robert Bowman, a Florida Reformer who himself sought the party's nomination this year.

At least one delegate inside the Buchanan convention seemed unsatisfied with the choices at hand. As media and delegates filed in through the hordes of metal detectors and security guards, he sat quietly in a corner of the room holding a sign which read: "Nominate Jimmy Carter to unite Reform Party."

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