Hagelin, an Iowa physicist, accepted the presidential nomination Thursday at the Natural Law Party's convention. About 400 people attended the gathering, about half of them delegates.

Hagelin and his running mate, Silicon Valley entrepreneur Nat Goldhaber, assured the crowd that a general election victory was possible. They cited the Minnesota victory by former wrestler Jesse Ventura, and Hagelin said he had hired a former Ventura aide as his campaign manager.

Saluting the blending of his party with the anti-Buchanan faction of the Reform Party, he said, "This is the birth of a union that is historically unprecedented -- a powerful coalition of America's leading political parties that can credibly challenge the two parties in our political process."

Hagelin sought the Reform Party nomination in early August at the party's convention in Long Beach, Calif. Buchanan, the former Republican, defeated him by a nearly 2-to-1 margin in a primary ballot count, but the anti-Buchanan delegates declared the process fraudulent and stormed out. They then held their own convention across the street and nominated Hagelin.

Both factions are seeking $12.6 million in Reform Party election campaign funds and are awaiting a ruling by the Federal Election Commission.

Buchanan spokesman K.B. Forbes said of Thursday's announcements at the Natural Law convention: "We hope people now realize the true colors of the situation."

"This proves that John Hagelin is the Natural Law Party candidate and that Pat Buchanan is indeed the Reform Party candidate. There should be no doubt now."

In the latest ruling in the battle to win spots on state election ballots, Buchanan's name will appear as the Reform Party's nominee in California. The secretary of state agreed to list him that way after Buchanan took legal action pressuring him to do so.

Buchanan's foes, who had asked the state to list Hagelin on the ballot, promised their own legal action challenging the decision.

The Natural Law Party, founded in 1992 with the help of Hagelin, grew out of the teachings of Transcendental Meditation leader Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It promotes preventive health care, increased use of renewable energy sources and peaceful remedies for international conflicts.

"I am running as a scientist trying to bring principles to a government that has none," Hagelin said in his acceptance speech Thursday.

He focused on health care, saying that 70 percent of diseases are preventable and yet the government spends barely 1 percent of its budget on stopping them. He also said campaign finance laws must be changed to end the control of special interests.

"The candidate who spends the most wins. What kind of expertise is that?" he said.

Hagelin also pledged to strengthen the nation's military, saying the government spends too much on flawed weapons and pays too little attention to personnel and readiness.

Hagelin said an alliance between the Natural and Reform parties "makes complete sense." The coalition already has been in the works in some states, with candidates in one party often stepping down to support candidates from the other party, he said.

While news reports on the Long Beach, Calif., Reform Party convention focused on the raucous splintering of the groups, he said he saw the division as "really an exodus of a very hostile element from the Reform Party and an emerging unity that extends beyond to include the Natural Law Party."

Hagelin said that Ventura, a former Reform Party member, "was nowhere in the polls three weeks before the election" and went on to win the gubernatorial race in Minnesota.

"We now have three months to achieve what Jesse Ventura achieved in three weeks," he said.

With that, he introduced his new campaign manager, former Ventura aide Doug Friedline. The two met about two weeks ago, and Friedline said he agreed to come on board shortly afterward. While acknowledging he has a lot of work to do, he expressed confidence in Hagelin winning the election.