In an interview with The Dartmouth Friday night, FEC commissioner Scott Thomas defended what is being called the "initial determination" in the Reform Party dispute over $12.6 million in public funding.
The FEC decided Sept. 13 to give the money to Pat Buchanan rather than John Hagelin '76 as the Reform Party presidential candidate.
Thomas characterized the decision as a difficult one, but the right one.
"What we were confronted with in this situation was a dispute [between]two different candidates who were each claiming that they were the Reform Party nominee and were entitled to that money," said Thomas, one of six FEC commissioners.
Hagelin spokesperson Bob Roth voiced strong disapproval, however, of the FEC ruling giving the public money to Buchanan, suggesting that evidence of procedural fraud was ignored.
"I was not at all satisfied that justice was served," Roth said. "How can you give $12.6 million to a candidate who you do not even know is the proper candidate?"
Thomas, though, said the decision was reached in accordance with federal law requiring a candidate to be listed as a party's nominee in at least 10 states.
"As it turned out, only Mr. Buchanan was able to make that showing to us," Thomas said. "We had a fairly easy choice to make when we actually made our decision."
This year's Reform Party candidate was due public funding because party founder Ross Perot earned more than five percent of votes nationwide in the 1996 presidential election.
After Buchanan switched his allegiance from the Republican to the Reform Party and Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura -- the party's best known member -- withdrew, the Reform Party broke apart.
At the raucous national nominating convention, the split became official. The Reform Party of the U.S.A. faction selected Hagelin -- a Dartmouth alumnus -- as their candidate and the Buchanan Reform Party chose the man from which the faction drew its name.
Thomas expressed sadness that the Commission had been forced to deal such a blow to the Hagelin campaign.
"It kind of broke my heart to see how frustrated and disappointed and angry some of the Hagelin supporters became at this," he said.
"They are true believers for that cause, and they were just absolutely crusted to see how Pat Buchanan had managed to work his way into the party," Thomas said. "It sort of tore me up somewhat to see how their enthusiasm turned to anger at the FEC."
According to Thomas, Hagelin supporters had hoped their candidate would be listed on the ballot in 10 states, but the FEC was forced to render a decision before they could do so.
Once Buchanan reached the 10 state threshold, the Commission was forced to take quick action so as not to handicap Buchanan's campaign, Thomas said.
If both candidates had made such a showing, the decision would have been more complex, Thomas said, possibly involving a splitting of the funding or requiring a court decision as to the rightful nominee.
At one point during the discussion leading up to the 5 to 1 decision, one commissioner suggested allowing a court to decide which candidate was the true nominee of the Reform Party, but the rest of the Commission was not receptive, Thomas said.
"The rest of us felt that this commissioner was off base, and that given the need for expediency, we should focus on the ballot issue. We couldn't take a detour and look at this other, rather interesting question," Thomas said. "It was a fairly legalistic decision, when all was said and done."
Both Hagelin and Buchanan are also asking to be listed on the November ballots as the sole Reform Party candidate. That question is still being decided on a state-by-state basis, primarily in the courts. One example is the New York Reform Party who yesterday shunned Buchanan in favor of Hagelin before disaffiliating from the national party.
How to count votes going to the Reform Party -- whether to count Buchanan's, Hagelin's or both -- is going to be an interesting question, Thomas said, with implications for deciding whether any candidate of the party receives public money in 2004.
Despite the FEC decision, Hagelin supporters intend to continue the campaign. Hagelin is now campaigning and will appear on many ballots as the nominee of the Natural Law Party.
"We're absolutely just moving ahead. With or without the money, we have the same support," Roth said.
Hagelin will be visiting Dartmouth on Oct. 4 to speak with students and faculty. He will also be giving a presentation -- entitled "Taking Back Our Stolen Democracy: A Call for Student Activism in Politics" -- in the Rockefeller Center Hinman Forum from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
