From: fierro@uts.amdahl.com (Doug Fierro)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc,alt.politics.elections
Subject: more info on Perot: 1st article of 2
Date: 13 Apr 92 04:56:34 GMT
Reply-To: fierro@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com (Doug Fierro)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Amdahl Corporation, Sunnyvale CA


  More food for thought; re-produced without permission; pundits feel free
to respond :-)

*****************
San Jose Mecury News
4/11/92
by Kristin Huckshorn
and S.A. Paolantonio

WASHINGTON- H. Ross Perot rode in Friday and this town promptly taught him a 
lesson in presidential politics.

  Does he belong to privte, exclusionary clubs?  Smoke pot?  Run around on
his wife?  Cheat on his taxes?

  "This is what I call mud-wrestling," said Perot, whose only one-day media
blitz through Washington and Pennsylvania gave him a taste of what a 
campaign is all about- including a run-in with protesters upset about his
abortion rights stance.

  Perot, peppered with questions about his personal life and political platform,
remained an undeclared candidate at day's end.  The diminutive Texas 
billionaire promised only to review a potential independent presidential
bid if supporters land him on ballots in all 50 states.

  "It's going very well so far," said Perot, who said he expected a 
nationwide petition drive to succed by June- although he has until August
to meet all the states' deadlines [this may be incorrect D.F.].

  A mark of the seriousness with which Perot's possible candidacy is being
taken: He was picked as surrogate speaker before the American Society of
Newspaper Editors after Democratic candidates Bill Clinton and Jerry Brown
both canceled.

  He caused somewhat of a disturbance there.

  Pressed by Acel Moore, associate editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer, 
to respont to questions with specific answers, Preot rebuked Moore with the
line: "Do we have to be rude and adversarial?  Can't we just talk?"

  The escalating interest in Perot's role in this year's election brings with
it increased scrutiny.

  Friday found Perot ducking some questions about his agenda and dismissing
his critics.  Some of his proposals lacked details.  But Perot, put on the
spot, answered a litany of questions about his personal life.

  The drug question: "I have not used drugs- marijuana or anything else."

  The adultery question: "No."

  The tax question: "No."

  The exclusionary clubs question: "I don't play golf.  I belong to a couple
of clubs.  If I run for office, I'll resign...If I get into this, we'll look
at whatever is there and clean it up."

  The grilling continued later in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., where Perot appeared 
live on a C-SPAN call-in show and spoke to about 2,000 people at the dedication
of the King's College business school.

  His speech at the Catholic college drew abortion opponents, who picketed
outside.  "We're Catholic and this is a Catholic college and Mr. Perot is
pro-abortion," said protester Ella Simms of Scranton, Pa.

  Despite that sort of attention, Perot insisted that he, his wife and their
five children were ready to withstand slings and arrows fired by reporters
and other candidates.

  "We did talk about it," said Perot.  "There are worse things in life than
this.  Millions and millions of people out there are using their own
initiative to get this (candidacy) done, to express their desire to own
their country again.  I'll do it for them.  I'll take the heat that goes
with it.  My family understands that."

  Supporters of Perot are distributing petitions to qualify him for the ballot
in November.  Rules for independent bids vary state by state.  So far,
Perot is only on the ballot in one state, Tennessee.

  Exit polling conducted Tuesday in four states measured support for Perot
at up to 30 percent.

  Typical of those supporters where callers who phoned C-SPAN during Perot's
appearance.  "It's an honor to be able to talk to you," said a caller from
Santa Cruz.  "Everything you talk about is right on target," offered a
caller from New York.

  Perot, adopting a tactic used by Jerry Brown, gave out his toll-free 
800 number during the show, encouraging a caller to phone:"Tell them I asked
you to call."

  He also told callers he was inclined to appoint a woman as a 
vice-presidential running mate.  "I will not choose an empty suit that goes
to funerals and plays golf!" Perot said.

  Sounding more and more like a candidate, Perot continually began sentences
with prefixes like "If and when the people send me up here to do this
job..  If I get stuck up here..."

  On C-SPAN he promised that if he is elected, "you'll see Congress and
the president dancing together like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers."

  At King's college, Perot told his audience, "It's never more fun than
when you are an underdog competing against the giants."

  H. Ross Perot, 5-foot-6 giantkiller, hits Los Angeles next.

A FEW WORDS WITH H. ROSS PEROT

(Here's a look at some of H. Ross Perot's answers to questions placed by
newspaper editors and C-SPAN callers Friday:

His style:

  "We are what we are.  I am what I am.  What you see is what you get.

Homosexuality and gay rights:

  "It's an individual decision.  I will be making a very strong appeal to
everyone to be responsible so that we try through personal responsibility
to dramatically reduce the spread of AIDS and we will be working night and
day to find a cure.  The damage in this country is serious but the damage
around the world is incredible, particularly in some of the poor countries"

Deregulation of airlines:

  "A sad situation brought on by people who don't understand business.  If
and when I"m ever up here, I do understand business and we will not implode
whole segments of an industry... The fact is we didn't get cheaper airplane
tickets, we got more expensive airplane tickets."

Middle-class tax cuts and teh present tax code:

  "I would start with a blank sheet of paper and create a new tax code.
This one has so many patches put on it by special interests, you'll never
straighten this code out.  People who come to Washington today, my first
advice to you is wear your safety shoes and wear a helmet because the
lobbyists running up and down the halls trying to get one more patch on the
inner-tube of their special interests might just kill you."

Welfare system:

  "The worst of all welfare systems is one that passes welfare on from one
generation to another...We certainly want to help people who need help.
We cannot have waste and abuse in the welfare system.  It's too expensive.
It's not right for people to just steal the money and there's a little
bit of that.  But we certainly do have to help people who need help."

War and peace:

   "We're better at winning wars than winning peace.  Look at Panama.
We didn't win the peace.  We left the people devastated down there.  Look
at Iraq.  We didn't win the peace down there.  They still have nuclear,
chemical and bacteriological weapons.  (Saddam) Hussein is still in power.
All we did is create a new bad boy in the Middle East, (President Hafez)
Assad of Syria."

Divulging his tax returns:

  "If I feel like I want to tell you, I will.  If I don't, I won't.  There's
nothing there to hide.  It's just a giant number."

Raising taxes to decrease the deficit:

  "I don't know yet.  I don't have the numbers.  When I know, I'll tell you."

Buying the Presidency:

  "I've told the people the only way an independent can win is if he can
help finance his election.  I've told the American people straight up that
if they want me to do this, then I will run a well-organized, well-financed
election and I will be doing it for them.  If that offends them, then they
will not get the petitions signed and they will not vote for me.  And that
is their prerogative."

-- 
                                                     Doug Fierro
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Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc