BIG QUESTIONS GREET REFORMERS

Minnesota Party Will Vote On Splinter Action

Members of Minnesota's Reform Party will meet Saturday to vote on a
dramatic series of internal policy changes aimed partly at protecting
the party from a takeover by supporters of conservative presidential
candidate Pat Buchanan.

At the convention in Bloomington, party delegates will consider
setting new, tougher standards for who can be a delegate to the
national Reform Party's nominating convention next summer. Another
proposed rule change would give the state party's 20-member executive
committee authority to divorce the Minnesota party from the national
organization.

Other controversial issues facing delegates Saturday
include:

Endorsing the legalization of marijuana.

Changing the state party's name from the Reform Party of Minnesota to
the Independent Reform Party of Minnesota.

Stripping veteran state party activist Cedric Scofield of his
leadership positions because he voted for California, rather than
Minnesota, as the site for the national convention.

The convention, which will feature a keynote address by Gov. Jesse
Ventura at 9 a.m. and a straw poll on potential presidential nominees,
has been planned for months as a platform-setting exercise. But the
convention assumed new importance because of a split in the national
party last summer between people attracted to Ventura and those loyal
to Ross Perot, the Texas billionaire who was the party's 1992 and 1996
presidential candidate.

Then, on Oct. 25, presidential candidate Buchanan announced he was
leaving the Republican party and would seek the Reform Party nomination.

Many Minnesota Reform Party leaders see Buchanan's effort as a grab
for the nearly $13 million in public campaign money the party will get
in 2000.

The state convention will begin at 8:30 a.m. at Normandale Community
College, 9700 France Ave. S. Party Chairman Rick McCluhan said he
expected about 175 voting delegates will attend.

"You are going to have the Ventura faction," McCluhan said. "I think
you're going to have the Buchanan faction. Then there is a faction
there that I think is still staunchly allied with Ross Perot."

One proposed rule would set new qualifications to serve as a national
delegate for people who have not been active in the state party for at
least a year. It is aimed at preventing Buchanan supporters from
flooding Reform Party precinct caucuses next March and electing
pro-Buchanan delegates.

Another rule change, also aimed at Buchanan, would allow the state
executive committee to separate the party from the national
organization. McCluhan does not now advocate separation, but he said
top Reform Party leaders in several other states have asked him to
lead a break-away from the national party if Buchanan wins the
presidential nomination.

"I don't think it's smart for a political party to open itself up to
being taken over by any special-interest group that comes down the
pike," McCluhan said. "I think that's stupid."

Moonyeen Bongaards, a former deputy chairwoman of the state Republican
Party who is leading Buchanan's Minnesota campaign, said she and a
handful of Buchanan supporters plan to attend the Saturday convention.
She called the effort to set an experience requirement for national
delegate ridiculous and undemocratic.

"If you want to keep your party small and elite, by all means put
something like this in your platform," she said.

But Iver Matz, convention coordinator, defended the anti-Buchanan rule
changes. "When somebody comes in and says `I'm going to take it over
and move it to the right,' that's really a slap in the face of a lot
of people who have been active Reformers since 1992," he said.

One rule change likely to be rejected by delegates is the proposal to
change the party's name, McCluhan's idea for attracting independent
voters. "Other than Rick McCluhan, I don't think I've met anyone that
likes it," said Alan Shilepsky, who was the party's candidate for
Secretary of State last year and is co-chairman of the platform committee.

While much of debate Saturday will be over the proposed changes in the
party's constitution, most of the delegates' time will likely be spent
discussing more than 100 points of a proposed platform. The most
controversial of those by far is the recommendation the party endorse
the legalization of marijuana.

"I smoked a lot of pot in my youth, but this is not something I think
is going to resonate well with people," said McCluhan, who said he
expects the plank may be amended or defeated.