Ventura Won't Stand Pat

If Pat Buchanan wins the Reform Party's presidential nomination next year, he shouldn't expect help from the party's highest elected official.

"No, no, I don't think I can support him,"Minnesota Gov. Ventura told USA Today in an interview appearing in Thursday's editions. "I find him very shallow. He says he is a grass-roots guy, but I find that fraudulent."

While Ventura has been cool to Buchanan's candidacy in the past, his remarks in the interview, conducted in his office in St. Paul, Minn., apparently were his most pointed to date. His comments come as the national party appears riven by a split between Ventura supporters and loyalists to party founder Ross Perot, whose allies support Buchanan.

Dean Barkley, a top aide to Ventura, elaborated on the governor's comments about Buchanan.

"Here's a guy who's trying to portray himself as an outsider, a grass-roots kind of guy and he's been an insider his whole life," Barkley said, mentioning Buchanan's days as a speechwriter for President Richard Nixon. "It just seems a little self-serving to now call himself an outsider."

Barkley didn't see Ventura's remarks as a new development. Ventura has been encouraging others to enter the Reform Party presidential race.

"In the months that Buchanan has been a possibility, I've never ever heard (Ventura) say he would consider endorsing him. He's been very polite in Buchanan's right to seek (the nomination), but he's never been supportive that he's the right candidate," Barkley said.

The governor told the newspaper the Reform Party needs a centrist candidate and that although Buchanan has "softened his rhetoric," he remains a right-wing candidate determined to bring his conservative cadre into the party.

Ventura said that would harm the party's attempt to grow into a viable national alternative.

Barkley said, "I don't think we've ever kept it a secret that it would be very difficult for us to address the issues that Pat Buchanan runs on. They're about as opposite ours as can be."

Ventura took the day off for personal business and was not available. His spokesman John Wodele said the comments shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.

"The governor's comments in the past have been very consistent. He has a very difficult time with strident, right-wing conservatives' approaches to certain social issues," Wodele said.

For example, Barkley cited Buchanan's "preoccupation with the abortion issue, his seeming intolerance of people who aren't particularly in a mold that he believes represents America." Barkley also mentioned Buchanan's trade protectionist positions.

Ventura is much more liberal on social issues. He supports abortion and gay rights and believes in free trade.

He told the paper that if the Reform Party race comes down to a contest between Buchanan and New York tycoon Donald Trump, he would supprt Trump.

Buchanan's campaign did not immediately return telephone calls Thursday seeking comment on Ventura's remarks.