BUT HE'S NOT ON BALLOT CONTROVERSIAL BUCHANAN BENT ON BEING REFORM PARTY NOMINEE.

Byline: Joe Stevens Staff Writer

A shadow called ``controversy'' follows Pat Buchanan wherever he goes.

So it's probably no surprise that when the Reform Party National Convention commences this week in Long Beach, Buchanan will be both the party's most-revered and most-loathed member. Oddly, Buchanan is the favorite to be the Reform Party's presidential candidate, but, as of today, his name is not on the party's ballot.

As turmoil and heated arguments swirl within the Reform Party, Buchanan said he plans to unite the party this week in Long Beach and easily emerge as its presidential candidate.

``This is all about the process of building a party,'' Buchanan said Friday from his vacation home in Bethany Beach, Del. ``We have to unify the Reform Party and move on from there.''

Buchanan's task sounds easier than it is. On July 29, seven members of the Reform Party's national committee unanimously voted to remove his name from the ballots because he allegedly broke party rules in getting the signatures needed to run.

``He committed massive fraud,'' Reform Party national secretary Jim Mangia said. ``He's had illegal donors who are essentially his Republican voters. When you have such a hostile takeover by a corrupt politician, you can't be pleased.''

Buchanan said the removal didn't mean anything because if he receives two-thirds of the Reform Party's national committee votes Tuesday in Long Beach, he will be back on the ballot.

``A lot of it is just a handful of folks, who have access to the media and do not want us to win,'' Buchanan said.

Mangia retorted that Buchanan is not wanted by the Reform Party and called him a ``brown-shirted bully.''

``What I would like to see is to have Pat Buchanan's disqualification upheld,'' Mangia said. ``He's trying to move the party to social conservatism and the politics of division. The Reform Party is about inclusiveness and reform. Pat Buchanan is about the politics of hate.''

Liberals often view Buchanan's stances on diversity as noninclusive and divisional. Buchanan opposes the gay-rights agenda in its entirety. He also has said that the terms ``African-American'' or ``Irish-American'' should not be used - only the word ``American'' should be.

Dedicated party members consider Buchanan's association with their party a nightmare. One big issue is that the winner of the Reform Party nomination will receive $12.5 million in federal funds for his campaign. Some argue that Buchanan isn't a true member.

None of the Reform Party's candidates, however, including Buchanan's closest opponent, Iowa physicist John Hagelin, are as well-known and recognizable as Buchanan.

When asked about his main platform, Buchanan combined his views on illegal immigration with foreign policy, in which he has said American troops should only fight overseas if there is a direct effect on the U.S.

``Our top priority is to bring American troops home from where they should not be overseas and put them on the borders of California, Arizona and Texas,'' he said. ``We're experiencing an illegal invasion, and it's the central threat we have.''

Buchanan then focused on his foreign policy and international-trade views, which are similar to those of the Reform Party. He didn't once bring up abortion, which he opposes, or his conservative civil-rights agenda.

He obviously was, and is, attempting to conform to the Reform Party.

If he continues this tactic, it will be a stark contrast from the 1992 Republican National Convention in Houston in which his ``cultural wars'' speech alienated many voters and spurred division among the Republican Party.

Is he a changed man now, compared with '92?

Not really, Buchanan said.

``Since then, American foreign policy has become arrogant and imperialistic,'' Buchanan said. ``And I don't see any necessary changes coming from the Republican and Democratic Parties.''

But it appears that the necessary changes won't come from the Reform Party either. The Commission on Presidential Debate has ruled that a third-party candidate must have 15 percent of the vote as determined by five national polling sources to participate in the presidential debates. Buchanan is fighting this ruling, but there is no precedent in having such rules overturned.

Buchanan and the Green Party's Ralph Nader each have an estimated 5 percent of the vote.