06/29/2000 Dallas Morning News The Front Page

Loyalists pulling for Perot's return
Followers say they have enough signatures to challenge Buchanan on ballot

By Carolyn Barta / The Dallas Morning News

Ross Perot loyalists are making a last-ditch effort to pull the Dallas billionaire out of political retirement in the next two days as a way to stop Pat Buchanan from winning the party's presidential nomination.

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Reform leaders will draw up their primary ballot this weekend, and Perot followers say they have collected enough signatures to include Mr. Perot, according to party rules, to compete with Mr. Buchanan.

The question, they say, is whether Mr. Perot will agree to seek the nomination.

"Buchanan supporters are extreme social conservatives who want to push their agenda. Only Perot can help get us back on track," said Ira Goodman, former Reform Party chairman in New Jersey, who is leading the draft.

Buchanan backers immediately cried foul.

Maryland Reform Chairman and Buchanan supporter Robert Bowes said the effort amounts to "a band of roving Perot loyalists intent on executing a cynical plan to make it appear that there is this groundswell of voter support for Perot and for Ross to save the Reform Party."

Mr. Perot, who has been silent about party activities since last summer, remains mum. His spokesman, Russell Verney, fields calls.

"Ira probably won't contact me until he has them [petitions] in hand. Then and only then will I talk to Mr. Perot about whether he will allow his name to be placed on the nominations ballot,'' Mr. Verney said.

But even if he agrees, Mr. Verney said, there's no way Mr. Perot could mount a competitive presidential race. Deadlines for obtaining ballot access in many states already have passed, and his name probably could appear on only 25 to 30 state ballots.

But that's fine with many Perot supporters.

"This is not about running for president," Mr. Verney said. Other loyalists agreed, saying that it's about stopping Mr. Buchanan from re-creating the party in his own image.

"A lot of it is an effort to get Perot to stand in as a party-builder, to keep Buchanan from taking over the party," said national secretary Jim Mangia, a Californian who opposes Mr. Buchanan and has worked on the Perot draft.

Some members, he said, would "rather have a noncompetitive presidential nominee or no nominee rather than allow Buchanan to hijack the party."

"If this bus takes a radical right turn, I won't remain on the bus. I don't object to a right-wing party, I just don't want it to be this one," said Mr. Verney, the party's former national chairman.

Shades of 1996

Others, however, see shades of 1996, when the Perot-Verney forces encouraged former Colorado Gov. Dick Lamm to seek the party's nomination. The day after Mr. Lamm announced, Mr. Perot jumped into the race and later won the nomination. Dissension flared within the party, and Mr. Lamm said he felt
deceived.

Mr. Perot, who first ran as an independent in 1992 and captured 19 percent of the vote, founded the Reform Party with his message of governmental and economic reform and call for fairer trade policies.

His 8 percent showing in 1996 was enough to qualify the party for $12.6 million in federal campaign funds this year.

If Mr. Perot agrees to have his name placed in nomination and subsequently wins the mail-in and electronic primary, he would use those funds to promote Reform issues and principles as a "place-holder," according to Mr. Verney.

Mr. Bowes, the Maryland Reform chairman, said Mr. Perot technically can qualify to seek the party's presidential nomination with as few as 7,000 signatures in a handful of states. But Mr. Buchanan, he said, has made a good faith effort to get his name or the Reform Party on the ballot in all 50
states by collecting more than 700,000 signatures.

Besides working in numerous states for ballot access, Mr. Buchanan and his "Brigade" members have been gobbling up delegate seats and party leadership posts at state Reform Party conventions.

Mr. Bowes said he discovered a "clandestine" Web site that Perot forces have been using for several months. It includes state-by-state contacts, nominating rules and a posting of work done to draft the former candidate.

He described the Web site as a way to "sneak Perot onto our primary ballot."

Other candidate

Meanwhile, some party members are supporting Natural Law Party candidate John Hagelin as an alternative to Mr. Buchanan and hope he qualifies for their primary ballot.

"Hagelin shouldn't be underestimated. He could defeat Buchanan in the primary," Mr. Mangia said, if he qualifies for the primary ballot.

The nominations committee will hold a teleconference late Saturday to certify candidates for the nomination. Primary ballots will be mailed beginning July 5, and voting will end Aug. 9, one day before Reform Party members gather in Long Beach for their national convention.

A ballot can be obtained by any Reform Party member, any registered voter who signed a petition or any registered voter who requests a ballot from a state Reform Party chairman.

Mic Farris of California, chairman of the nominations committee, said that the rules require Mr. Perot to send him a letter saying he's agreeable to being a candidate before the committee will review evidence that he has the requisite number of petition signatures in enough states.

"Sounds to me like they've got the cart before they've got the horse," said Brian Dougherty, press aide to Mr. Buchanan.

He said that Mr. Verney invited Mr. Buchanan into the party, and when he did, he knew that Mr. Buchanan was socially conservative.

As for whether he will try to change the direction of the party, Mr. Buchanan has said he will make no attempt to alter the existing platform but he intends to continue stating his views on social issues.