COLUMN: Buchanan's folly: A dance with the Reform Party

From Mark Fiore's, "The Right Stuff," Fall '99 From Mark Fiore's, "The Right Stuff," Fall '99They say politics makes for strange bedfellows. And nothing could be stranger than a Reform Party double-dip of Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura and presidential candidate Pat Buchanan. Apparently, that isn't stopping the former Nixon and Reagan White House staffer. Over the last several weeks, Buchanan has all but announced his intent to bolt the GOP for the Reform Party. An official announcement could come within a month. On the surface, Buchanan seems motivated by his lackluster performance in a strong field of potential GOP nominees -- led, of course, by Texas Gov. George W. Bush. But the three-time presidential candidate has also accused the GOP of abandoning its conservative roots and becoming a "Xerox" of the Democratic Party. How, then, can Buchanan reconcile his uniquely conservative views on social issues with the largely centrist stance of the Reform Party? While both Buchanan and Reform Party stalwarts like Ventura support low taxes and decreased government spending, Buchanan's real focus is on issues like abortion, morality and family values. Buchanan has gone so far as to say that he will base judicial appointments on the positions nominees take on issues like abortion. In sharp contrast, the Reform Party has steered far away from using social issues as political litmus tests. Ventura, for example, was elected last year on promises to reform Minnesota's political system and to keep taxpayers' money in taxpayers' pockets. Nowhere in his platform are issues like abortion. Indeed, Ventura, like most Reform Party members, believes the government should stay out of Americans' private lives and focus on economic issues instead. Admittedly, Reform Party positions like Ventura's are still in their formative stages. The party, it can't be forgotten, has only been around since Ross Perot first sought the presidency -- largely on economic, not social, issues -- in 1992. But what semblance of a platform the party has established would likely be shattered by a Buchanan presidential bid as a Reform Party candidate -- a fact that Ventura has not ignored. The inherent mismatch of Buchanan and the Reform Party has prompted the governor to publicly reject Buchanan's efforts and to push for an alternative candidate, possibly Donald Trump. Even if Buchanan makes the switch to the Reform Party, it is certainly conceivable that the party's voters could reject him -- and if they know what they stand for, they would. After all, with Buchanan heading the Reform Party ticket, the fledgling party's charted course could quickly shift directions. That's not to say that Buchanan's visions are wrong -- it's just that they're wrong for the Reform Party. Apparently, though, Buchanan has not realized that -- or has been blinded by the substantial gains he could receive by leaving his true party. A jump to the Reform Party would bump Buchanan from a second-tier GOP candidate trying to stay afloat in Bush's tidal wave to a substantial contender. As the Reform Party nominee, Buchanan would get his hands on more than $12 million in federal campaign funds and he would likely share the stage with the Republican and Democratic nominees at any presidential debates. But Buchanan is fooling himself if he thinks he has any better chance of winning on the Reform Party ticket. A Pew Research Center poll released early this month showed that, in a three-way race, Buchanan would garner a paltry 9 percent of votes -- compared to 50 percent for Bush and 35 percent for likely Democratic nominee Al Gore. What's more, no third-party candidate has ever won the presidency. The best showing came from Perot in 1992, who -- while capturing 19 percent of the popular vote -- failed to carry a single state. Nonetheless, Perot's showing, and recent successes like Ventura's, suggest a trend that Buchanan may be trying to take advantage of: The nation's two-party system is no longer the powerhouse it used to be. If Buchanan does break free of the two-party structure, what may be most interesting in the years to come is not the future of the Reform Party, but the future of the Republican and Democratic parties.