Ross Perot Throws a Hat into the Ring ...; ... and Pete Wilson Takes One Out
ROSS PEROT THROWS A HAT INTO THE RING ... From now till the 1996 election, Ross Perot apparently will be right where backers and critics alike expected him to be--in the thick of presidential politics. The Texas billionaire announced last week the formation of the Independence Party and said it will try to qualify its presidential candidate in every state. The eventual nominee, political pros quickly predicted, will be none other than Ross Perot. If he runs, GOP leaders fear he will draw support from the Republican candidate and ensure Bill Clinton's re-election--a notion that Perot dismisses as "the biggest piece of propaganda ever uttered in American politics." His goal is a budget-balancing constitutional amendment plus reforms in lobbying and campaign finance. Gen. Colin Powell, he suggests, might be a good Independence Party nominee.
Perot, who spent $60 million on his last campaign, says he won't bankroll the new party. He intends to rely on small donations. "If everybody that voted for me in 1992 will give $10," he says, "that's $190 million; that's more than you need." His first objective is getting the party on the ballot in California, where his operatives need to submit 890,064 petition signatures by October 24 (and where the party will be known as the Reform Party because the state already has an Independence Party). The campaign started auspiciously. Perot said there were 800,000 attempts to call his 800 number within five minutes of his announcement on CNN's Larry King show.
... AND PETE WILSON TAKES ONE OUT Pete Wilson seemed like a dream presidential candidate to some--and a nightmare for Bill Clinton. His moderate stand on abortion and tough position against crime and illegal immigration helped him win re-election as governor in California, a must-win state for Clinton in 1996. But when he broke his 1994 promise not to run for president, he angered California voters, who wanted him to take on Democrats, like outgoing Assembly Speaker Willie Brown. The result: Most state polls showed Wilson trailing Bob Dole among Republicans and Clinton among the entire electorate--no small problem for a campaign predicated on delivering the state to the GOP.
The former marine also had trouble finding his voice--literally. Just as his bid for the GOP presidential nomination got underway, he was silenced by throat surgery for two long months. He never seemed to recover. Last week, Wilson, who described himself as the candidate the White House feared most, made it official: He's no longer running for president.
This story appears in the October 9, 1995 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.
advertisement
