ASHINGTON - Republican presidential candidate Pat Buchanan is preparing to bolt his party and begin a quest for the Reform Party nomination Oct. 25, officials close to the conservative commentator said yesterday.
Two officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Buchanan was planning to announce his departure from the GOP in suburban Washington, New Hampshire and perhaps other key states.
The officials cautioned that Buchanan could still reverse course and stay out of the increasingly fractious third-party bid. But they said he intends to bolt, and the departure was virtually certain.
In the clearest signal yet of his intentions, Buchanan's campaign mailed hundreds of invitations to supporters Tuesday night inviting them to a ''major announcement'' Oct. 25 at a Falls Church, Va., hotel, the officials said. As many as 3,000 invitations also were being sent for a New Hampshire stop, they said.
''He's almost too far down the pike to get out now,'' said one of the officials.
However, spokeswoman Joanne Hansen said no final decision has been made.
Lagging in GOP polls, Buchanan says he believes the party's nomination battle is rigged in favor of Texas Governor George W. Bush, who he says is too moderate.
The Reform Party nominee would lay claim to almost $13 million in federal matching money. Party founder Ross Perot earned 19 percent of the vote in 1992 and 8 percent in 1996.
Republicans fear that a third-party run by Buchanan would siphon conservative votes from their nominee. He won the New Hampshire primary in 1996 and put a scare into President George Bush in the 1992 primaries.
Buchanan, however, would not be assured the nomination. A parade of celebrities and politicians are mentioned as potential candidates, including New York tycoon Donald Trump, Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura, former Connecticut Governor Lowell Weicker, actress Cybill Shepherd, actor Warren Beatty and Perot.
A new CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll shows limited support for the third-party alternatives. Buchanan had the backing of 9 percent of those surveyed in a three-way matchup with Bush and Vice President Al Gore, the Democratic front-runner. Trump had 10 percent in a similar matchup.
