Heaven Can Wait
Just when you thought the drama surrounding the Reform Party had settled into its groove of absurdity, one faction has decided to complicate the situation a little more by dragging another party into the mix.
The Natural Law Party has announced an alliance with the anti-Pat Buchanan faction of the party founded by Ross Perot. The amalgamation supports scientist John Hagelin for president, who calls it a Â"marriage made in heaven.Â"
Seeking to win the $12.6 million in federal campaign funds currently being disputed by both factions of the Reform Party while awaiting a ruling by the Federal Election Commission, Haglin said the alliance between the Natural and Reform parties Â"makes complete sense.Â"
The coalition already has been in the works in some states, with candidates in one party often stepping down to support candidates from the other party.
Hagelin announced the merger Thursday at the Natural Law Party convention. Despite the fact that their convention hosted only about 400 people – roughly half of which were delegates – Hagelin maintains that the combination is Â"a powerful coalition of America's leading political parties that can credibly challenge the stranglehold of the two parties in our political process,Â"
Looking back at the Minnesota victory by Gov. Jesse Ventura, the Iowa physicist and his running mate, Silicon Valley entrepreneur Nat Goldhaber, assured the crowd that a general election victory is possible.
Perhaps the scientist turned politician thinks the nation is made up of Minnesota voters or maybe that he is as charismatic and well known as Jesse Â"The BodyÂ" Ventura. But whatever it is, Hagelin seems to convey that his new party has a real shot at the White House – based on VenturaÂ's success in his race for governor.
He has even enlisted one of VenturaÂ's aides, Doug Friedline, as his new campaign manager.
Hagelin noted that Ventura, a former Reform Party member, Â"was nowhere in the polls three weeks before the electionÂ" and went on to win Minnesota's 1998 gubernatorial race.
Â"We now have three months to achieve what Jesse Ventura achieved in three weeks,Â" he said.
Hagelin sought the Reform Party nomination last month at the party's convention in Long Beach, Calif. Buchanan, a former Republican, defeated him by a nearly 2-to-1 margin in a primary ballot count, but the anti-Buchanan delegates declared the process fraudulent. They then held a convention of their own and nominated Hagelin.
Supporters of the party's founder, Dallas billionaire Ross Perot, had insisted that Hagelin is the real nominee.
Buchanan spokesman K.B. Forbes said he hoped Thursday's announcement would help people Â"realize the true colors of the situation.Â"
Â"This proves that John Hagelin is the Natural Law Party candidate and that Pat Buchanan is indeed the Reform Party candidate. There should be no doubt now.Â"
In the latest ruling in the batte to win spots on state election ballots, Buchanan's name will appear as the Reform Party's nominee in California. The secretary of state agreed to list him that way after Buchanan took legal action. Hagelin's supporters promised to challenge the decision.
The Natural Law Party, founded in 1992 with the help of Hagelin, grew out of the teachings of Transcendental Meditation leader Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It promotes preventive health care, increased use of renewable energy sources and peaceful remedies for international conflicts.
Â"I am running as a scientist trying to bring principles to a government that has none,Â" Hagelin said in his acceptance speech Thursday.
He focused on health care, saying that 70 percent of diseases are preventable and yet the government spends barely 1 percent of its budget on stopping them. He also said campaign finance laws must be changed to end the control of special interests.
Â"The candidate who spends the most wins. What kind of expertise is that?Â" he said.