BY DOUG JENNESS
ST. PAUL, Minnesota - Supporters of Minnesota governor
Jesse Ventura succeeded in electing their nominee to head the
Reform Party at its recent national convention in Dearborn,
Michigan. In a setback to Ross Perot, the party's founder and
standard-bearer for president of the United States in 1992 and
1996, the 400 delegates elected John Gargan by a 61 percent
vote over Perot's choice, Patricia Benjamin, party vice-
chairperson.
The convention registered the increased prominence of Ventura as a national political figure who feeds on middle- class insecurities and suggests he will bring stability with an iron hand. The Reform Party was originally put together around Perot, who during the 1992 election campaign offered similar demagogic rhetoric and won an unprecedented 19 percent of the vote. It is not easy for two such authoritarian figures to coexist in a party of that sort.
Gargan, a retired financial consultant and businessman from Florida, told the convention he believes the current economic upturn "is a temporary bubble." When the bubble breaks, he predicts economic depression accompanied by anarchy. "I can foresee people storming the Capitol and hanging their congressmen from the nearest lampposts," he said. The new Reform Party chairman explains that he lives in Florida's Cedar Key because it could be more easily be barricaded from the mainland during the anticipated social upheaval.
The three-day gathering didn't choose a presidential candidate for 2000. Ventura has publicly announced that he isn't available to head the party's national ticket until he completes his four-year term as governor.
Lobbying efforts began at the gathering for a number of nationally known figures who were promoted as potential presidential candidates. Among them were former general Colin Powell, consumer advocate Ralph Nader, real estate and financial tycoon Donald Trump, and fascist-minded Patrick Buchanan.
Buchanan, who is running for president in the Republican primaries, has hinted that he might be open to running on the Reform Party ticket. This seems aimed primarily at courting the most ultraright forces in and around the Reform Party rather than a serious bid for the party's nomination. Ventura recently stated, "I'm not sure that Pat would make a good fit for the Reform Party." He said Buchanan focuses more on social questions - that is, his loudly proclaimed "culture war" - than on issues such as taxation and finance reform, which have been more at the center of Perot's and his own campaigns.
Bonapartist demagogues
Like Perot and Ventura, the names that are being promoted
to be the Reform Party's presidential contender - while
politically very different - represent the possibilities that
exist for "straight-talking," demagogic figures who are not
"establishment" politicians and who can win support from
middle-class layers and even some workers who are
disappointed, frustrated, and resentful about the effects of
the growing crisis of the capitalist system.
Ventura and Perot are both what has been known historically as Bonapartist politicians. At a time of growing social crisis, these figures offer themselves as strong and authoritative individuals who can "cut through the gridlock" of traditional parties and government institutions and "get something done," even if it's at the expense of some democratic rights. They portray themselves as rough-talking tough guys ready to use violent means if necessary to protect "the people." Their main selling point is themselves, not a particular party, program, or policies.
Ventura's campaign and first seven months as governor have been a classic example of this kind of strongman approach. Ventura stresses his military credentials, repeatedly referring to his experience as a SEAL, the Navy's elite unit. Early on, the Minnesota governor established his right to pack weapons in state office buildings and made a show of beefing up the security around his home.
He also promotes scapegoating and conspiracy theories. His talks and interviews, as well as his recently re-established weekly radio talk show, are often filled with dark accusations against the press as a suspect institution.
Ventura seized on the recent session of the Minnesota state legislature, which has no representative from the Reform Party, to portray himself as standing up for "all Minnesotans" against bipartisan politicking.
The governor declared he would not lengthen the legislative deliberations by convening the customary special session to finish up business. Under this pressure, the Democratic-Farmer Labor and Republican parties compromised on the most disputed budgetary measures and finished the session on schedule.
Then, when the budget reached Ventura's desk for signing, he promptly used the line-item veto 40 times to slash more than $160 million from the budget. For each section of a bill he objected to, Ventura crossed it out, initialed it, and inked it with a rubber pig stamp, which he said symbolized "cutting out the pork."
Housing for homless women and children, reading programs, and other social assistance measures were among the items cut. All in all, he has vetoed all or parts of more bills than any Minnesota governor in the past 60 years.