JACKSON-AREA COUPLE PARTICIPATE IN REFORM PARTY CONVENTION

Mary and Patrick Aldredge believe special interests have corrupted the nation's two major political parties.

The rural Jackson couple are tired of what they see as politics as usual. They hope their efforts and those of approximately 400 other delegates at the Reform Party's national founding convention in Kansas City last weekend will revamp the face of politics.

Mary Aldredge served as an at-large delegate and is secretary of the Reform Party in Missouri. Patrick Aldredge attended the convention as the delegate for the 8th Congressional District.

The Aldredges took their 4-year-old daughter Savannah along for the three-day convention that ended Sunday.

The Aldredges said Tuesday they believe there is little difference between the Republican and Democratic parties. Mary Aldredge said the two major parties have been bought by special interests, including foreign interests.

In contrast, the Reform Party won't take special-interest money, including soft-money donations, she said.

"We both know they have been bumping ugly in the back seat of that station wagon for years," Patrick Aldredge said. "I think they are all prostitutes for the highest bidder and some of it is pretty cheap," said Aldredge.

The 47-year-old Vietnam veteran grew up in the Bay area of California in the 1960s.

Aldredge, who is self employed, terms himself a conservative who at one time considered himself a Republican.

But he thinks Republican Bob Dole's win over Pat Buchanan in the 1996 party caucus in Missouri was a "fixed fight."

Mary Aldredge used to work for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, signing up small businesses in Southeast Missouri. She quit her job in 1993 so she could stay home and raise her daughter.

She said she became a supporter of Ross Perot when he ran for president in 1992. The Texan's views mirrored those of small-business owners she dealt with through her chamber job, she said.

Perot founded the Reform Party, but it doesn't need Perot as its presidential candidate to succeed, Patrick Aldredge said. "We don't need Ross' money," he said.

Aldredge would like to see Buchanan run as president on the Reform Party ticket. Perot would make a good vice president, he said.

Perot spoke at the party convention in Kansas City. But Aldredge said it wasn't an acceptance speech.

"We dusted our own butts off this time. He just stopped by to say good luck," Patrick Aldredge said.

Mary Aldredge said the Reform Party is building for the future. At the convention, delegates elected national officers, approved a constitution and drafted a platform.

"We are building a nationwide communications system through the internet and e-mail," she said.

The party's overall goal is to put the public back in control of government, she said.

The party favors tax reform, but hasn't settled on a specific tax measure. "We are for a tax that is fair, paperless and pays our country's bills," said Mary Aldredge.

She said the party needs to build from the ground up and field candidates for city, county and state offices.