Chaos at Reform Party Convention

L O N G   B E A C H, Calif., Aug. 10, 2000 -- Chaos and confusion marked the Reform Party presidential nominating process today as rival factions broke away to hold two separate conventions. Hanging in the balance is $12.6 million in federal campaign funds.

The third party is now split into two camps: Supporters of candidate Pat Buchanan and opponents of the former Republican who are turned off by his socially conservative views.

With Buchanan’s “brigades” of supporters having effectively seized control of the party apparatus at national party meetings here over the last two days, his detractors, led by lesser-known Reform Party candidate John Hagelin, are crying foul over being shut out of the process.

“This party has endured a terrible catharsis,” Hagelin told delegates at a pre-convention rally at the Renaissance Hotel. “[Buchanan] has stolen approximately half the party … But look around and you’ll see that the stronger half is here!”

Backers of Hagelin, a physicist from Iowa, say Buchanan represents bigotry and intolerance rather than the socially agnostic views of the party’s founder, Texas billionaire Ross Perot.

“True reform extends beyond keeping chopsticks out of the United States!” Hagelin told supporters this morning, mocking what Buchanan’s detractors say is a protectionist platform.

“They way people handle defeat is an indication of their true character,” Bay Buchanan, the candidate’s sister and chief campaign strategist, responded today on Political Points, a joint Webcast of ABCNEWS and The New York Times.

Buchanan Opponents Turned Away

After the rally, Hagelin and a mob of hundreds of screaming supporters marched across the street and up a flight of stairs to the main hall of the Long Beach Convention Center, where the Buchanan wing of the party was set to begin its convention.

“The real reformers are here!” Hagelin declared as his delegates chanted “Go, John, go!” and “Reform! Reform!”

But the group was turned away from the entrance of the main hall by security guards who insisted the group was not properly credentialed for the event.

“It is over,” Bay Buchanan declared this afternoon. “We’ve won fair and square. It is time to go home and try to play in someone else’s sandbox.”

Not so, say the anti-Buchanan forces, who proceeded to another hall in the complex to hold their own nominating convention. The challengers allege that Buchanan seized control of the party only through widespread fraud during the party’s mail-in and Internet primary. Buchanan denies their allegations.

The result of all of the party in-fighting is that there are now, for all intents and purposes, two Reform parties, with two sets of party leaders, holding two conventions. And on Friday, they will likely nominate two separate candidates: Buchanan and Hagelin.

But which candidate will receive the $12.6 million in federal campaign funds that the legitimate Reform Party nominee is entitled to? That will be up to the Federal Election Commission. But both factions say that if the FEC rules against them, they will contest that ruling in court.

ABCNEWS’ Rebecca Bershadker contributed to this report.