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 | THE THIRD DIMENSION
AUGUST 19, 1996TRANSCRIPT |
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The man that asked America to listen to "that giant sucking sound" is back. Last weekend, Ross Perot garnered the presidential nomination of the Reform Party -- a party that he organized and paid for -- at its convention at Valley Forge, Pa. Jeffrey Kaye reports on the nascent third party and its presidential candidate.
A RealAudio version of this NewsHour segment is available here.
July 16, 1996:
Jim Lehrer engages Ross Perot in a Newsmaker interview.
July 12, 1996:
Two pollsters speculate on how could a third party affect the presidential election.
July 12, 1996:
Two pollsters speculate on how could a third party affect the presidential election.
June 10, 1996:
Jim Lehrer interviews former Reform Pary candidate Richard Lamm.
July 30, 1996:
Online NewsHour readers participate in a forum about third parties and the American Electorate.
ROSS PEROT: I am honored, and I
am humble that you have chosen me as your candidate to be President. (applause) I will only belong to you, the people. (applause) And I am absolutely committed, irrevocably committed, to passing on a better world to our children and grandchildren.
JEFFREY KAYE: In his acceptance speech last night in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, Henry Ross Perot touched on familiar themes that called for less spending, campaign finance reform, and a lowering of the national debt. He was short on specific solutions but insisted the problems were brought on by the two major political parties. In particular, Perot ridiculed Bob Dole's economic plan to cut taxes in order to increase growth.
ROSS PEROT:
They have proposed solving these financial problems with a big tax cut. Now we have tried this supply side economics in the 80's. It gave us the biggest increase in the deficit we ever had in our country's history. Even the people in the party that created it called it voodoo economics. I said in 1992 if we ever do this again, we'll be in deep voodoo. (laughter among audience) And there we are.
JEFFREY KAYE: Perot said the Democrats and Republicans are now following his lead.
ROSS PEROT: Have you listened to the messages from the other parties during the last few weeks? (audience shouting) Do their promises for 1996 sound familiar?
AUDIENCE: (shouting) Yes!
ROSS PEROT: Who first brought these issues to the American people? You did! Isn't it terrific and in just four years, they've repented, been reborn, and you are setting the agenda for ‘96. God bless you.
JEFFREY KAYE: The Valley Forge event was the second half of a two-part convention and nominating process conceived of, planned, executed, and financed by Perot. The party mailed out about 1 million nominating petitions to registered voters from across the country who signed petitions to place Perot or the Reform Party on the ballot.
Last week, voters cast ballots in person by mail, by phone, and by computer. Ballots went out to 1.1 million people but less than 4 percent voted. Perot received twice as many votes as Richard Lamm, the former Colorado governor who unsuccessfully challenged Perot for the nomination. Lamm congratulated Perot and spoke of his own brief foray into third party politics.
GOV. RICHARD LAMM: I went to Los Angeles 78 days ago to make a speech. It's been like riding a tiger ever since. It's been like drinking out of a fire hydrant. But I don't regret a moment of it.
JEFFREY KAYE: Lamm and his running mate, former California Congressman Ed Zschau have withheld their endorsement of Perot.
JEFFREY KAYE: Should Ross Perot be President?
RICHARD LAMM: I don't want to answer that.
JEFFREY KAYE: Why not?
RICHARD LAMM: I just--I'm not--I'm not in a position to really be able to evaluate at this point what Ross Perot or Bill Clinton or Bob Dole--I mean, I just don't want to be put in that position.
JEFFREY KAYE: Mr. Zschau, let me come to you and ask you that same question. Should Ross Perot be President?
ED ZSCHAU, Former California Congressman: Both Dick and I are very supportive of the reform movement, and I had hoped to endorse the nominee of the Reform Party. I planned to. In fact, I announced that I would, but my conscience doesn't permit me to, to do so.
JEFFREY KAYE: What do you mean?
ED ZSCHAU: I feel that the major criterion for voting for President of the United States is one's evaluation that that person that you're supporting or voting for is the most qualified to lead this country at this time into the 21st century, and I can't, in good conscience, say that about Ross Perot.
JEFFREY KAYE: Zschau and Lamm's comments were among the few voices of dissonance in an
other wise harmonious pageantry of Americana. The day-long event was attended by about 2,000 mostly Perot loyalists who came in from around the country. But while the spotlight has been on the Reform Party's presidential candidate, activists have said repeatedly that their real intent is to create the new viable political party across the country.
ROSS PEROT: Last September, when we announced that we were going to create a new party, we announced we would create a Reform Party that belonged only to the American people.
JEFFREY KAYE: It was an expensive undertaking. In the last five months, Perot has spent more
than $6 million. He paid for the conventions and the balloting process. Perot controls and funds the national organization known as the Perot Reform Committee, which has some 80 employees in 30 states on the payroll. At the committee's Dallas, Texas, headquarters, the Perot imprint is unmistakable. Sharon Holman is Perot's communications director.
JEFFREY KAYE: I see signs up here that say the Reform Party.
SHARON HOLMAN, Perot Reform Committee: Mm-hmm.
JEFFREY KAYE: But then I see papers on these desks that say the Perot Reform Committee.
SHARON HOLMAN: Committee.
JEFFREY KAYE: This picture of Perot's. I mean, it's both the Reform Party and the Perot Reform Committee.
SHARON HOLMAN: We are creating the Reform Party. The Reform Party does not exist yet. There are Reform Parties in different states where we've been declared on the ballot. So the FEC requires that their--that we call ourselves the Perot Reform Committee and we are building the Reform Party.
JEFFREY KAYE: Russell Verney, the Perot Reform Committee's national coordinator, says he hopes to see a political party that can be independent of Perot.
RUSSELL VERNEY, Perot Reform Committee: In the United States, to create a new political party, the logistical burdens which impose financial burdens that are extraordinary state from state, which is why there isn't a competitive third political party and hasn't been for 150 years since the Republicans were created. This is a huge undertaking. Mr. Perot's generosity has come to the forefront. He's offered this gift to America.
JEFFREY KAYE: That's pretty much the view of state activists who came to Valley Forge this weekend.
VINCE LOCASCIO, Reform Party: I'm here to see the creation of a third party. I think it's sorely needed in this country. Both of the other parties are controlled by special interests. For the last thirty to thirty-five years, the middle class is being--is moving downward, and the--neither of the political parties are paying all that much attention.
JEFFREY KAYE: This third party that you see--is it something that can exist independently of Ross Perot, or is it a Perot vehicle?
BEVERLY KIDDER, Reform Party: No. This is coming from the center. What we have is a two-party written--put together fringe elements. We have the Republicans. They want to climb in your bedroom window and in your doctor's office, but they want no controls on money. Then you have the Democrats, who have no controls on anybody's life, but they want to take your money. So what we are is in the middle.
JEFFREY KAYE: The Reform Party is so far on the ballot in some 40 states. In at least eight states, candidates are running for office under the Reform Party banner. Tom McLaughlin is a Pennsylvania Reform Party candidate for Congress.
TOM McLAUGHLIN, Reform Party Congressional Candidate: We elected two local officials in Pennsylvania in 1995, a township supervisor and a school board director. The vote is out there to back independent candidates, and it's just a matter of getting the right candidates out there and getting the information out.
JEFFREY KAYE: Perot announced plans to accept federal financing for his campaign. His success as an independent candidate in the 1992 election--he got 19 percent of the vote--makes him eligible for 29.2 million dollars in federal funds. Once he accepts the money, federal election law limits him to spending only $50,000 more of his own funds. He can also accept $32.6 million in public donations as long as individual contributions are limited to $1,000 each.
Federal funds could also be a boon to the Reform Party. If Perot gets more than 5 percent of the vote as the Reform Party candidate this year, the party's presidential campaign will be eligible for federal money in the year 2,000, regardless of Perot's involvement. As for Perot's immediate plans, he has set up a Dallas post office box to collect public campaign contributions, and his spokeswoman said an announcement of a running mate is imminent.
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