Gov. Ventura Says He Can’t Back Buchanan

Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, the nation’s highest elected official from the Reform Party, said from St. Paul, Minn., that he would not endorse Patrick J. Buchanan even if he wins the party’s presidential nomination next year. “No, no, I don’t think I can support him,” Ventura told USA Today in a telephone interview from his office. “I find him very shallow. He says he is a grass-roots guy, but I find that fraudulent.” Ventura’s comments come as the national party appears riven by a split between Ventura supporters and loyalists to party founder Ross Perot, whose allies support Buchanan.