  It is shown that the standard methods of computing excited states in
truncated spaces must yield wave functions that, beyond truncation, are in
principle veered away from the exact, and a remedy is demonstrated via a
presented functional, F$_n$, obeying a minimization principle for excited
states. It is further demonstrated that near avoided crossings, between two
MCSCF 'flipped roots' the wave function that leads to the excited state has the
lowest F$_n$.
