At first glance, it seems a strange pairing: Ralph Nader, consumer activist and former Green Party candidate, and the Reform Party, brainchild of Ross Perot and former home of Pat Buchanan, joining forces in this year’s presidential election.

But this political odd couple shouldn’t come as a surprise, say spokespeople with the candidate and party, who say Nader and the Reform Party reflect shared fundamental principles on a majority of issues.

“If people look at the Reform Party position, it’s amazing how many of their positions we agree with,” Nader press secretary Kevin Zeese said. “Whether it’s getting out of Iraq, or a crackdown on corporate crime, opposing the Patriot Act and destruction of the constitution by John Ashcroft … [the connection] is not as surprising as people think.”

Reform Party press secretary David Weller echoed Zeese’s sentiments, listing Nader’s stances on international trade agreements, the military’s budget and the decision to go into Iraq as in accordance with the Reform Party’s views.

“We consider him a reformer because he does agree with 70 to 80 percent of our platform,” Weller said.

The partnership began in May, when the Reform Party endorsed Nader as the party’s nominee for president. With the party’s help, Nader has been able to get on election ballots such as Florida’s that otherwise would be tough to secure.

UW emeritus professor of political science Charles O. Jones views the alliance as a marriage of necessity between a candidate who needed ballot access and a party facing an identity crisis.

“The Reform Party lacks a clear identity; it’s a shell of what it used to be,” Jones said. “They were relatively etched with Perot, but then with Buchanan and [former Minnesota governor Jesse] Ventura, you wonder what this party stands for other than in general professing interest in change.”

Perot formed the Reform Party before his second presidential run in 1996. Buchanan succeeded him as the party’s presidential candidate in 2000, although there is a dispute within the party as to whether it was Buchanan or John Hagelin who secured the official nomination.

Weller believes the endorsement of Nader will bring the party back towards its “close to the center” platform and away from the far-right policies that Buchanan pushed.

For Mike Heideman, Students for Nader campus coordinator, the Democratic Party’s attempts to keep Nader off ballots necessitated Nader’s union with the Reform Party.

“The only reason he has to [work with the Reform Party] is because the Democratic Party is being extremely undemocratic,” Heideman said. “But I think it speaks to Ralph’s broad appeal and the need for his voice to be in this election.”

Others, however, view the affiliation with the Reform Party as an ideological leap for Nader, who ran in the 1996 and 2000 presidential elections as the Green Party’s candidate before opting to enter this year’s race as an Independent.

Madison Ald. Austin King, District 8, a Nader supporter in 2000, denounced the independent candidate for accepting the help of what he deems a “hardcore racist” party.

“Nader is a hero of mine, so to see him accept support from a party right of the Republican Party is highly disconcerting to say the least,” King said.

Although in the short term Nader needed the support to get on ballots, King believes the affiliation will have long-term consequences for the consumer activist.

“There will be a huge blow to his credibility as long as he continues to accept [the Reform Party’s] support without condemning their politics, contrary to 2000 when he ran a vibrant, progressive campaign,” King said.