Speech by Jim Mangia
Secretary, Reform Party of California

Reform Party State Conference
June 1, 1996 Los Angeles Convention Center

Good afternoon. It is a great privilege to address you today, and to have the exciting job of talking to you about building the Reform Party -- our political weapon to take back our country!
My job today, is to talk about the issue of party building. Tomorrow in the workshops, we're going to deal with the nuts and bolts of building the Reform Party. Today, I wanted to talk about what I believe is the cutting edge issue we've got to deal with if we are going to succeed at building this party.
One thing I think is very funny, is that the media, the pollsters and the Beltway analysts continue to debate about whether there will be a major third party in America. Obviously those of us in this room know that there is no need for that debate. There will be a major and competitive third party in America. We are all the living proof.
However, while there is no need for debate on whether or not there will be a third party, there are still many unanswered questions about what kind of party this will be. I believe very strongly that the Reform Party needs to be a not just a new party, but a new kind of party -- one that brings together Americans from all walks of life, from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, from differing ideologies. The Reform Party must move beyond the traditional political labels, the traditional ideologies, like "liberal" and "conservative" which the politicians and the two major parties use to divide the American people!
If we are to be a new kind of party, we must be a party that goes beyond ideology. What do I mean by that? I mean a party that does not get caught up in differing views on social issues but which instead focuses on changing the structure and rules of the political game so that the American people can take back our government!
The media, as we are all aware, has been a little slow to pick up on this dimension of what the Reform Party is doing. Their sole fixation has been that the Reform Party is "really all about Perot." Now, I'm a great admirer and supporter of Mr. Perot. But, honestly, if this were "all about Perot," then what would you and I be doing here? This is about saving America!
Reporters often ask me, usually in an accusatory manner, how I could think that all of us -- from so many diverse communities and backgrounds and viewpoints -- could build a party together. These reporters say -- you all have different positions on abortion, on affirmative action, on gay rights, on gun rights. How could you possibly build a party together? I must confess that I find that question astonishing. After all, we built this country together. With our differences. Now we find ourselves in a position where the two major parties and the arrogant and corrupt government they control have taken our country away from us -- the people to whom it belongs.
So it does not seem at all far fetched to me, that any people who came together in diversity to create a country, but had it taken away from them, can come together in a diverse and inclusive political party to take it back.
But let's face it. The two parties and Big Government are very skillful at playing the ideology game and using labels and political identities to manipulate the American people.
The two parties have made sure that the American people are led to believe that we've got to have an ideology, a political category to which we belong. We are told, for example, that if you believe in morality and economic growth, you must be a conservative. A Republican. We are told, if you believe in fairness and equality you must be a liberal. A Democrat. I do believe in morality and economic growth. But I am not a Republican. I do believe in fairness and equality. But I am not a Democrat. I don't believe in the ideological and political categories that have defined American political life and which have given the two parties the framework they need to keep themselves in business and Americans divided from one another.
These types of labels have produced tremendous divisions among the American people. These ideological categories: pro-life, pro-choice, pro-family, pro-gay, anti-welfare, anti-gun control, anti-liberal, anti-conservative -- these ideological labels are extremely harmful.
That is why we have all come together this weekend at this very important conference. We are building -- not just a new party -- but a new kind of party. The Reform Party's name is not an accident. Our focus is not ideology, but reform -- reform of the political process by which we are governed so that the American people -- and not the ideologues -- can do the governing. That's what it means to take back our government and our country, in my opinion!
Now the analysts will tell you that the American people can't come together around these issues of reform. They're not important enough to the American people, they're not basic enough, they're not bread and butter enough. I disagree. When you have an arrogant and corrupt bipartisan Big Government which believes only in self-perpetuation and self-aggrandizement at the constant expense of the American people, you're talking about the most bread and butter issue of all -- whether or not this country belongs to us. I believe it does. I believe this is the core of Ross Perot's message. I believe this is the basic philosophy of the Reform Party. We have got to restructure the American political arrangement so that we the people can run our government and our country. That's why political reform is the issue that unifies all Americans.
So this is the strategy for party building. The basic premise of party building must be the inclusion, the welcoming and the reaching out to all people. We must create an environment where all Americans, from various political, social and cultural walks of life -- can come together for reform and take back our country!
We are involved in a process that is redefining American political life -- not based on our differences but based on our similarities as Americans. Based on our concern for individual liberty and freedom, for democracy, for our inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We live in the greatest country on earth. The United States Constitution was written to guarantee our rights as human beings to participate in the direction of our nation. That was the first time anything like that had ever been codified into law. Every American is guaranteed the protections of the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights is our guarantee that we have freedom or speech, religion, assembly, the press and association; our guarantee of the right to bear arms but not witness against ourselves; our guarantee that we may be secure against unreasonable search and seizure, and against cruel and unusual punishment; our guarantee that power not specifically delegated to the federal government is preserved to the states and to the people -- these rights belong to the American people. When those rights are abridged -- as they are with increasing regularity on Capitol Hill, in the White House, by the Justice and Treasury Departments, by the bipartisan political elite -- when those rights are abridged it is the signal that we must come together and we are!
Some people thought that the test of whether this party would become something important and historic for the American people was whether we'd succeed in getting on the ballot here in California. We succeeded in getting 120,000 registrants in 18 days because the people of California -- from all ideologies and all communities -- wanted it. While that was certainly a historic accomplishment, in my opinion that wasn't the real test. Some people thought that the test of this party would be whether we could develop a party-building movement rather than a personality movement. We have succeeded in doing that in spite of the fact, as Mr. Perot says, that we have been constantly "chewed on" by the media and the two parties. And while that is a strong step forward for our movement, that isn't the real test, either. The real test, in my humble opinion, is whether we will build a new kind of party that is non-ideological and inclusive that brings all Americans together as Americans, to recreate our country. If we fail to meet that challenge, future generations will say of us, "Oh the Reform Party? They're just a footnote." But if we succeed, future generations will say, "Oh, the Reform Party? They rewrote the book on American democracy. They saved our country!" This weekend's conference will hopefully be an important chapter in that book. Thank you.