Editing Pat Buchanan (section)

===2000 presidential campaign===
{{Main|2000 Reform Party presidential primaries|Pat Buchanan 2000 presidential campaign}}
[[File:Buchanan Reform 2000.svg|thumb|The logo used by Buchanan and the [[Reform Party of the United States of America|Reform Party]] in the [[2000 United States presidential election|2000 presidential election]]]]
Buchanan announced his departure from the Republican Party in October 1999, disparaging them (along with the Democrats) as a "[[beltway]] party." He sought the nomination of the [[Reform Party of the United States of America|Reform Party]]. Many reformers backed [[Iowa]] physicist [[John Hagelin]], whose platform was based on [[Transcendental Meditation]]. Party founder [[Ross Perot]] did not endorse either candidate for the Reform Party's nomination. (In late October 2000, Perot publicly endorsed [[George W. Bush]], but Perot's 1996 running-mate, [[Pat Choate]], would go on to endorse Buchanan.)

Supporters of Hagelin charged the results of the party's open primary, which favored Buchanan by a wide margin, were "tainted." The Reform Party divisions led to dual conventions being held simultaneously in separate areas of the [[Long Beach Convention Center]] complex. Both conventions' delegates ignored the primary ballots and voted to nominate their presidential candidates from the floor, similar to the Democratic and Republican conventions. One convention nominated Buchanan while the other backed Hagelin, with each camp claiming to be the legitimate Reform Party.

Ultimately, when the [[Federal Election Commission|Federal Elections Commission]] ruled Buchanan was to receive ballot status as the Reform candidate, as well as about $12.6 million in federal campaign funds secured by Perot's showing in the [[1996 United States presidential election|1996 election]], Buchanan won the nomination. In his acceptance speech, Buchanan proposed [[United States withdrawal from the United Nations|US withdrawal from the United Nations]] and expelling the [[Headquarters of the United Nations|United Nations Headquarters]] from New York, abolishing the [[Internal Revenue Service]], [[United States Department of Education|Department of Education]], [[United States Department of Energy|Department of Energy]], [[Department of Housing and Urban Development]], [[Estate tax in the United States|taxes on inheritance]] and [[Capital gains tax in the United States|capital gains]], and [[affirmative action]] programs.

As his running mate, Buchanan chose [[Ezola B. Foster]], an African American activist and retired teacher from Los Angeles. Buchanan was supported in this election run by future [[Socialist Party USA]] presidential candidate [[Brian Moore (political activist)|Brian Moore]], who said in 2008 he supported Buchanan in 2000 because "he was for fair trade over [[free trade]]. He had some [[Progressivism|progressive]] positions that I thought would be helpful to the common man."<ref name="indy weekly">{{cite news|date=October 8, 2008|work=[[Independent Weekly]]|title=Q&A with Socialist Party presidential candidate Brian Moore|url=http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A266409|access-date=November 25, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160104184456/http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A266409|archive-date=January 4, 2016 }}</ref> On August 19, the [[New York Right to Life Party]], in convention, chose Buchanan as their nominee, with 90% of the districts voting for him.<ref>{{Citation|date=August 1, 2000|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020820004727/http://ballot-access.org/2000/0901.html#16|url=http://ballot-access.org/2000/0901.html#16|title=Right To Life Party Picks Buchanan|publisher=Ballot Access News|archive-date=August 20, 2002}}</ref>

In a campaign speech at [[Bob Jones University]] in [[Greenville, South Carolina]], Buchanan attempted to rally his conservative base:

{{blockquote|[[God]] and the [[Ten Commandments]] have all been expelled from the public schools. [[Christmas carols]] are out. Christmas holidays are out. The latest decision of the [[United States Supreme Court]] said that children in stadiums or young people in high school games are not to speak an inspirational moment for fear they may mention God's name, and offend an [[Atheism|atheist]] in the grandstand ...

We may not succeed, but I believe we need a new fighting conservative traditionalist party in America. I believe, and I hope that one day we can take America back. That is why we are building this [[Gideon]]'s army and heading for [[Armageddon]], to do battle for the Lord.<ref>Quoted in Timothy Stanley, ''The Crusader: The Life and Tumultuous Times of Pat Buchanan'' ([[New York City]]: [[St. Martin's Press]], 2012), pp. 350–351; {{ISBN|978-0-312-58174-9}}</ref>}}

In the [[2000 United States presidential election|2000 presidential election]], Buchanan finished fourth with 449,895 votes, 0.4% of the popular vote. (Hagelin garnered 0.1% as the [[Natural Law Party (United States)|Natural Law Party]] candidate.) In [[Palm Beach County, Florida]], Buchanan received 3,407 votes{{mdash}}which some saw as inconsistent with [[Palm Beach County]]'s liberal leanings, its large Jewish population and his showing in the rest of the state. Bush spokesman [[Ari Fleischer]] stated, "Palm Beach county is a Pat Buchanan stronghold and that's why Pat Buchanan received 3,407 votes there." Reform Party officials strongly disagreed, estimating the number of supporters in the county at between 400 and 500. Appearing on ''The Today Show'', Buchanan said: "When I took one look at that ballot on [[Election Day (United States)|Election Night]] ... it's very easy for me to see how someone could have voted for me in the belief they voted for [[Al Gore]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/showflorida2000.php?fileid=buchanan11-09|title=Pat Buchanan on NBC's Today Show|date=November 9, 2000}}</ref> Palm Beach County's [[butterfly ballot]] is credited with misdirecting over 2,000 votes from Al Gore to Pat Buchanan, tipping Florida — and the 2000 U.S. presidential election — to George W. Bush.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Butterfly Did It: The Aberrant Vote for Buchanan in Palm Beach County, Florida |url=https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/publications/butterfly-did-it-aberrant-vote-buchanan-palm-beach-county-florida |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=Stanford Graduate School of Business |language=en}}</ref>

Some observers said his campaign was aimed at spreading his message beyond his white conservative and [[populist]] base, while his views had not changed.<ref>{{cite news|last=Havrilesky|first=Heather|url=http://archive.salon.com/news/feature/1999/10/25/buchanan/|title=Not standing Pat|work=Salon|date=October 25, 1999|access-date=June 13, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080423233336/http://archive.salon.com/news/feature/1999/10/25/buchanan/|archive-date=April 23, 2008 }}</ref>