Contacts:
Nancy Allen, Media Coordinator
207-326-4576, nallen@acadia.net
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator
202-518-5624, scottmclarty@yahoo.com

REFORM PARTY FACTION SUPPORTS RALPH NADER

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Reform Party's national convention in Long Beach, California has been a spectacle of factional hostility, legal wrangling, and chaos, as Pat Buchanan and John Hagelin and their respective followers fought for the Reform Party nomination -- and the $12 million in matching funds H. Ross Perot's candidacy in 1996 assured the party.

But the media have missed the presence of a third Reform Party contingent, a breakaway group called the American Reform Party.  The American Reform Party participated at the Green Party national convention in Denver, Colorado, on June 24 and 25, and has endorsed Ralph Nader, the Green Party's nominee.

Mr. Nader's candidacy has appealed to many in the Reform Party because of his stress on government accountability and grassroots democracy, on campaign finance reform, and on the erosion of American democracy under a two-party system compromised by corporate money and influence. 

The American Reform Party, like the Greens and Mr. Nader, have also supported a single-payer national health insurance system, restoration of normal trade and diplomatic relations with Cuba, and lifting the inhumane embargoes on Iraq and Iran.  Mr. Nader addressed the American Reform Party convention in October, 1999, in Washington, D.C.

Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, speaking on Meet the Press (NBC) on Sunday, August 6, praised Mr. Nader for his commitment to democratic values.
The American Reform Party represents the faction that supported Colorado Governor Richard Lamm in 1996, and voted to become independent from the Perot Dallas group in 1997.  The party adopted Ta Tanka, the American buffalo, as a political symbol of independence and self-resourcefulness.

Don Torgeson, National Press Secretary for the American Reform Party, can be reached at 847-359-2999.  Mr. Torgeson addressed the Green convention on Sunday, June 25.

For more information...
* American Reform Party:
http://www.americanreform.org/
* Green Party platform: http://www.gp.org
* Nader 2000 Campaign: http://www.votenader.org
* Association of State Green Parties:
http://www.greenparties.org

More information:

Green Party platform: http://www.gp.org
Nader 2000 Campaign: http://www.votenader.org
Association of State Green Parties: http://www.greenparties.org

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