Ross Perot Gave Us Another Choice
The recent death of self-made billionaire Ross Perot immediately took me back to the 1990s and presidential politics.
It was am era when I would graduate from college and enter the newspaper business full-time. It was in 1992 that the name Ross Perot became known nationally and certainly became a player on the national political stage.
At one time in the summer of 1992 Perot actually led both Bill Clinton and then president George HW Bush in the polls. It looked, for a time at least, that a candidate outside of the two major parties was going to do the impossible and become president.
As it turned out, the task did prove impossible although I still say if Perot had not dropped out (and then re-entered the race that year) he very well could have won or at the least finished second. My theory was that Perot really didn’t want to be president and was becoming concerned he was going to win.
While Perot earned millions of votes in the 1992 presidential election he actually did not win any state and therefore was blanked in the electoral college vote tally. In essence, as one political observer noted, Perot really didn’t win anything.
Yet I must disagree with that analyst. Perot gave voters another choice, something which is always good for anyone who values competition even at the ballot box.
Imagine if we only had two choices when came to buying food, clothes, automobiles, homes, etc. Each of us value choice or least one would think we do.
However, in politics the choice is often between Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb. A third, or fourth or fifth choice when we vote is something we should all cherish.
One of Perot’s most impressive accomplishments in 1992 was getting on the ballot in all 50 stages. Another impressive thing he did was get into the debates along with Clinton and Bush.
Perot instantly became popular because he didn’t speak like a politician. He spoke his mind and if you didn’t agree with his stance on an issue so be it. He wasn’t going to do what I call a “political dance” and try to be on every side of an issue.
On paper his choice of James Stockdale, a retired admiral, seemed like a good idea. In the end it probably cost him some support. During the vice-presidential candidate debate with Al Gore and Dan Quayle, Stockdale appeared way out of his element not appearing to have answers to questions.
With one question his response was “I don’t really have any thoughts on that.” He also had trouble hearing the moderators.
Perot entered presidential politics for various reasons but one was he disagreed with the war with Iran and had been a vocal critic of President Bush. Perhaps Perot’s most fascinating accomplishment came in the late 1970s when he put together a team of soldiers and mercenaries to rescue two employees of his company who were being held prisoner in Iran.
The book “On Wings of Eagles” detailed the rescue and a television movie was produced about it.
Perot received almost 20 million votes in the 1992 general election. Other third party candidates throughout that century did not get that many votes but did receive electoral votes including Teddy Roosevelt in 1912, Strom Thurmond in 1948 and George Wallace in 1968.
With the formation of the Reform Party, Perot tried again for president in 1996 but his campaign did not have the enthusiastic support as his first run. Perot was not allowed in the debates this time with Clinton and Bob Dole.
From a full disclosure standpoint I did not vote for Perot either time he ran for president opting for Libertarian Andre Marrou in 1992 and Libertarian Harry Browne in 1996. However, Perot got millions of people interested in politics and many people voted for the first time because he was running.
Perot’s stance on many issues aligned with mine and he certainly would have not been worse as a president than Bush or Clinton. Many Republicans blame Perot for Clinton winning but that type of voting logic has always been flawed.
If Bush wanted more votes then he needed to work harder for them. It was similar to the 2000 race when many supporters of Democrat Al Gore blamed Ralph Nader for the loss in Florida which ultimately gave George W. Bush the White House. (That race is a whole other issue and would take multiple columns to cover.)
But stressing again, those who supported Nader were under no requirement to vote for Gore. The thinking is so flawed it is not even worth debating.
Perot will always be remembered in U.S. presidential politics even though he never resided in the White House. He was an entertaining and patriotic person who loved his country and was a definite major political player in the decade of the 1990s.
Monticello native Chris Bridges is a long-time newspaper columnist. He has earned awards for his columns from the National Newspaper Association, the Georgia Press Association and the Georgia Sports Writers Association. He welcomes feedback from readers of The Monticello News at pchrisbridges@gmail.com.