Associated Press
June 30, 2000
PEROT WON'T RUN FOR REFORM NOMINATION
Two-time presidential candidate Ross Perot rejected supporters' efforts to put his name on the Reform Party's primary ballot Friday....
His decision leaves two candidates who say they have acquired enough support to win spots on the ballot: former Republican Buchanan and Natural Law Party candidate John Hagelin.
In a statement, Hagelin said his own effort made a Perot run unnecessary.
"His candidacy was designed to prevent Pat Buchanan from using the Reform Party as a platform to promote his right-wing social agenda," Hagelin said. "I will vigorously uphold Ross Perot's vision of the Reform Party as a mainstream alternative that will appeal to the 115 million frustrated voters who did not vote in the last election."...
Perot's supporters believe that Buchanan has tried to take over the party and move it away from its hands-off approach to social issues. The party platform is silent on such matters as abortion and homosexuality because the party believes government should have no say in such personal issues.
But Buchanan says he's bringing new life into a party riven for years by internal fighting. He has conducted a cross-country campaign to get the party on general election ballots and win enough delegate votes to block any challenge to his nomination. In the process, his supporters have built state parties where none existed and driven out Perot loyalists who tried to block them.
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