How the Buchanan-Foster ticket fared

Reform Party nominee Pat Buchanan appeared on the ballot in 49 states (not on in Michigan and District of Columbia) and garnered, according to preliminary numbers from Ballot Access News, 438,046 votes or 0.43%, finishing a distant fourth.  It was a disappointing showing, given the fact that the campaign had $12.6 million in federal funds and that Buchanan, by virtue of his television work and previous campaigns, had good name ID.

A number of factors impeded Buchanan's progress.  Ballot access efforts pushed the campaign into the red by the beginning of the summer.  Challenges from Dr. John Hagelin, who sought to build a Natural Law-Reform coalition campaign, and from disaffected Reform Party activists culminated in dueling Reform Party conventions in Long Beach, creating a perception of chaos.  Buchanan was unable to attract a well-known running mate, although Ezola Foster worked hard on the campaign trail.  He was kept off the trail in the critical weeks following the Reform Party convention and beyond Labor Day because of surgery to remove his gallbladder on Aug.17, and he needed a second operation on Aug. 23.  The campaign thus did not get in gear, with federal funds and a healthy candidate, until mid-September.  Buchanan's strategy was based on getting into the debates, and due to all these setbacks he did not come close to doing that.
 
 
 
 
"...a long, contentious and ultimately unsuccessful campaign..."
-Pat Buchanan, in letter to supporters