ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, June 9, 1996 TAG: 9606100029
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LEXINGTON
SOURCE: DWAYNE YANCEY STAFF WRITER
THE VIRGINIA WING of Ross Perot's Reform Party rejected `Tex' Wood as a Senate candidate - and grappled with just what it means to be a political party.
Buddy Holloway couldn't stand it anymore, so he did something about it. The mess in Washington? Nope, that could wait. Right now, he was more fired up about the mess that had started out as the first state convention of the Virginia wing of Ross Perot's new Reform Party.
"Whoa! Whoa!'' Holloway shouted, banging his fist on the lectern and shouting over the din of fussing and feuding delegates. "You elected me chairman, and we're going to vote on something! That's the way it's going to be? Is that understood?''
The 60 or so delegates finally quieted down, but not without some more complaints about the way things were being run. "Is this the Marine Corps?'' grumbled one delegate.
So it went Saturday, as the Virginia Independent Party argued, debated and shouted back and forth over what to do with its most prized possession - a guaranteed spot on the state ballot in November.
The convention delegates who gathered in a meeting room at the Howard Johnson - most of them veterans of Perot's 1992 presidential campaign - insisted they got involved because they hate politics. But they soon found themselves immersed in some of the very things they say they despise.
After a six-hour session, the party didn't seem to have done very much:
nThe party decided not to nominate a candidate for U.S. Senate - even though George "Tex" Wood, an iconoclastic college instructor from Patrick County, wanted the nod. Instead, after spirited debate, delegates voted 3-1 to rebuff Wood's offer, saying they didn't know much about him, they couldn't offer him much support, and a Senate candidate would just distract from their real business of supporting a presidential candidate.
nHowever, the delegates decided not to nominate a candidate for president, either - at least for now. Some wanted to put Perot's name on the ballot temporarily, then replace him if the Reform Party - legally, a separate entity until a formal merger is completed - picks another candidate at its yet-to-be-scheduled national convention. Others simply wanted to wait until then and adopt the Reform nominee.
That prompted an even more raucous discussion, as the meeting spun out of control - until Holloway, a sales manager for a Bristol foundry who found himself presiding over the session, finally snapped and started barking out orders to stay quiet.
nThe party didn't even adopt a platform, preferring to wait until after it sees who the Reform Party's candidate is going to be. Even the vote to recess the convention until then became contentious - Holloway had to call the vote twice, because the count of raised hands kept coming up with different numbers.
In the end, the delegates voted - by either two votes or four, depending on who was counting - to recess until August, by which time it hopes the Reform Party will have nominated someone. Holloway and others traded apologies for the way things had gone.
"I've seen some things that will tear [the party] up," Holloway said. "I've had one lady who has worked with us since the petition drive [for Perot in 1992], and she said `I resign.' I hope she'll reconsider. We don't need any quitters."
Brian Menard, a University of Virginia graduate student who is writing a paper on Perot's effort to start a third party and attended the convention as an observer, had a different take on things: "They came in spirited. They've had agreements. They've had battles. They've discovered politics."
To him, Saturday's rowdy convention was a sign of the growing pains to be expected in the birth of a new party. It was clear that what began as a "Perot movement" in 1992 is more than that now. The Texas billionaire's name was rarely spoken, and some delegates made it plain they'd rather have someone else on the party's national ticket - such as former Colorado Gov. Richard Lamm, a Democrat who is exploring a third-party bid.
"Perot has the organizational ability, but he may be weak on his political image," said Bill McKenzie, a Naval retiree from Virginia Beach. "Dick Lamm seems interesting, but we're not 100 percent sure he wants to be our candidate."
The big split at Saturday's convention came over tactics - is it better to build a new party by running candidates for all offices, or just for president? That question animated the debate over whether to nominate a Senate candidate.
"We need to do something in this state to get our party known," said Bill Huff, a Bedford County contractor who wanted the party to nominate Wood - who just last week won a ruling in federal court that declared Virginia's laws making it difficult for independents to get on the ballot are unconstitutional.
Countered Ivan "Pink" Ely of Williamsburg: "It is not a good idea for a new party to put up a candidate who probably can't win. We would look silly, absolutely silly, in the eyes of the general public."
Other delegates questioned whether Wood, a free-wheeling sort and relative latecomer to the party, would be a proper spokesman. "Whoever goes out and wears our label, that is how we will be identified, which could be a plus or a big minus," said Ralph Copeland of Hanover County.
Wood sat silently through the nearly hour-long debate, raising his hand to speak only after Holloway announced he was going to cut off debate. He never got the chance.
When the vote was over, Wood stepped outside to smoke a cigarette. "I'm not surprised," he said. "They want John Warner to be elected, and they don't want me to be in the race." He pledged to keep trying to get on the ballot as an independent. "Let's see if I have the energy to push a petition drive."
Want more information on the Reform Party or other parties? Visit our on-line voters' guide at: http://www.infi.net/roatimes and check under "political resources."
LENGTH: Long : 112 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: CINDY PINKSTON/Staff. 1. Chairman Buddy Holloway takes aby CNBvote from the floor during the Virginia Independent Party convention
Saturday in Lexington. Color. 2. Headshot of Wood.