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Morning News

Mangia: Buchanan Attempting to Steal Reform Party

Aired August 10, 2000 - 10:24 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ANDRIA HALL, CNN ANCHOR: The anti-Buchanan faction has broken away to show its support for the nomination of physicist John Hagelin. Reform Party national secretary and Hagelin supporter, James Mangia, joins us now live with the splinter group's side of the story.

Why don't you tell us what your priority is right now?

JAMES MANGIA, REFORM PARTY NATL. SECRETARY: Well, I would argue, of course, that we're not the splinter group, we're the majority and the founders and the leaders, and the members of the Reform Party.

The bottom line is that nobody has won yet. The primary has not been announced. Tens of thousands of Reform Party members have voted in this primary. And the Buchanan campaign is attempting to not allow that primary result to be put forward.

They want to stop the primary from being -- they want to disenfranchise the voters of the Reform Party in an attempt to steal the nomination, and make off with $12.6 million in federal taxpayer money.

HALL: But Mr. Buchanan and his supporters say that this is simply a case of long-time established Reform Party members really dealing with sour grapes, that you just don't want to see your power base go, and that you don't want to lose your clout. How do you respond to that?

MANGIA: Well, we haven't lost our clout. The fact is that hundreds and hundreds of delegates are being prevented from entering the convention hall because they control the security. This is complete strong-arm, brown shirt tactic attempt by the Buchanan campaign to steal the Reform Party.

The large scale members of the party, the tens of thousands of voters are being disenfranchised by the Buchanan campaign, who are attempting to stop an election, which is an integral part of our Constitution. Democracy must reign. That was the bottom line of the Reform Party: ethics, democracy, government accountability.

They have attempted to defraud the process. They have submitted 500,000 Republican Party donors in an attempt to flood our primary and fix the election. And now they don't want the election announced because they are liable for fraud. The bottom line is that Buchanan is a corruption, a political corruption, that is attempting to steal the Reform Party and destroy the major third party in America, that gives Americans a choice.

HALL: But, sir, if you look beyond the personalities here with who you are for and or who you are against, and you just look at unifying the party. You look at the Democrats and the Republicans and they can go through elections, stomping, campaign stomping, and eventually come together so that the good of the party is still intact. When does the Reform Party begin to do that? the convention starts today?

MANGIA: Well, the issue is that all of the factions of the Reform Party are united against Buchanan. That is the bottom line. It's many, many, many Reform Party members, it is a majority of the delegates. It is 89 out of 145 national committee members.

I've just been elected as the national chair of this party by the majority of the party. The bottom line is that voters, who's protecting the voters, who is allowing the will of the voters to be heard? The Buchanan campaign is attempting to squash democracy in the Reform Party. They are coming here with brute force, attempting to take over the party, and we are not going to allow that to happen.

This is not the Republican Party. This is not some right-wing social conservative organization. This is the party of reform. This is the party that 20 million Americans broke from the Democrats and the Republicans in order to have a choice.

HALL: James Mangia, we're going to have leave it at that. But I know we will be hearing a lot more reports because your convention just starts today out of Long Beach. And I have a feeling that we will not hear the last of this yet. Thank you so much for joining us.

MANGIA: Thank you.

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