Perot gears up

[StandWatie]

Is Ross Perot plotting a return to the national stage in time for the 2004 elections? Judging from a well-written 95-page book proposal making its way through the New York publishing circuit, a copy of which arrived unbidden in my e-mail, the crazy aunt in the basement wants to sing again.

For connoisseurs of political entertainment, "America the Broken: How to Reform and Revive the Greatest Democracy Ever Known," which Perot is proposing to coauthor with James Champy, bestselling author of "Reengineering the Corporation," promises everything we miss about ol' jug ears. The "short, intense book" will be "liberally furnished with charts, of the sort Ross Perot used in his 1992 campaign." The "giant sucking sound" of jobs going overseas is back, only this time the bugaboo is white-collar knowledge industry jobs, not manufacturing. There will be stories of how Ross forced Texas educators, kicking and screaming, to reform their public schools, and homilies about solving complicated problems like the healthcare crisis by getting "the best qualified people in the country to put their heads together." And for those of us who always suspected self-interest lay at the root of Perot's prescriptions, his chapter on cutting government waste includes an artfully buried plug from the computer magnate for requiring Washington's myriad agencies to adopt compatible electronic systems.


http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2003/08/08/perot/index_np.html

Welcome back to '92: another Bush, Perot, Democrat split.

[Emboldened Chimp]

1. This would be interesting, indeed

Though I don't think he'll garnish as many votes this time. People will be more apt to say, "The crazy bastard's running AGAIN?"

[The Zanti Regent]

26. But I Remember that he went on Larry King and ENDORSED Bush!

While he was doing that, I kept saying to myself, "You're gonna regret it!"

[BeatleBoot]

2. We can only hope

But then there's the Nader split of the left.

Though I think Perot would split the Right to a far greater extent than Nader could ever split the Left.

:beer:

[Itascapark]

3. Lover-ly

HE"S BACKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!

Set those controls on automatic and aim striaght for the sun, little man.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

4. Nader didn't run in '92

so your analysis is off already. Frankly, this is good, and I hope Pat Buchannan runs again too. I don't think the left wants to repeat 2000.

I think.....

[JoFerret]

19. I think it's good too

Perot's effective attacks on Bush the Elder helped pave the way for Clinton. Yes he was/is whacky but he tapped into a deep seated unease of many conservative minded independents and concerned Republicans worried about the incompetence of Bush management of the economy. Welcome back to the fray Ross and get out those charts on the budget deficit and job shrinkage. Yhe more voices that identify this fraudulent government the better.

[tedoll78]

5. we can learn something from him though:

Infomercials DO work for political candidates.

I'm concerned about Bush getting his convention bounce after us. It'll help him tremendously. But.. if we were to take an hour in the last week of September, and hour in the middle of October, and an hour on Monday, November 1, 2004, we could effectively have "the last word" between the two campaigns.

For the last few elections, as much as 7 to 10% of the electorate was undecided on the weekend before the election. An infomercial could be the nudge that tips the election into our corner.

These infomercials could be perfectly scripted and test marketed. They could draw a contrast between the two candidates - what Bush has done and what our man/woman would do. Stories of ordinary people affected by Bush policy, news stories that the mainstream media has passed-over in favor of KobeTV, expert testimony on how our candidate's policies would help real Americans, personal history of our candidate's life.. we can do some serious damage here.

Infomercials. They work. We need em'.

[AndyTiedye]

20. Dead Cat Bounce

> I'm concerned about Bush getting his convention bounce after us

I'm more worried about what kind of "October Surprise" he has in store for us.
:nuke:

[jenk]

6. YES!!! Split that Repug vote!

!

[Wonder]

32. Now if this is what a Perot entry does I AM ALL FOR IT!

for tactical reasons rather than just pure camp!

[Gato Moteado]

7. perot is an idiot.....

he came out the day before (s)election 2000 on larry king and endorsed bush. i wonder if the little texas moron is sorry he did that now.

[StandWatie]

8. I'm sure he is..

I remember that interview and he was all over Al Gore for voting in favor of Gulf War I.

[Sirius_on]

14. No Perot....No Clinton

Clinton would have never been president if it wasnt for the "idiot". You should kiss his feet in appreciation.

[zekeson]

9. the crazy aunt in the basement wants to sing again...

Bring him on. I loved his schtick in '92 and '96. Took my daughter to see him speak the day (or was it two) before the election. No one there. We sat in the grass next to him. She was bored and thought he had big ears. She was right.

Quite a difference than a few days before when with tickets we couldn't get within blocks of Bill Clinton.

Perot was, however, a wonderful overall distraction and I will welcome that distraction again in 2004.

edit to add/clarify that I found him a positive distraction in that he was entertaining and syphoned votes from Poppy and later Bob.

[David__77]

10. Perot vs. Lieberman...

I'd be inclined toward Perot if Lieberman were the Democrat on the ballot. I do hope that Perot runs again. He sees that federal deficit and fiscal irresponsibility and I think he's more than concerned.

[PurityOfEssence]

11. as the Boy-King spits the hatred of the cheated and the cellphones ring

I hope he has to suffer all of the petty reminders that things just don't go his way as is his self-proclaimed due.

Let's have the far-right fundynazis force ugly planks into his platform. Let's have some other scandalous giveaway to the rich.

Then let's have some legal action against Uncle Dickie and some uppity journalists dog him on his serial treason. Then, for the grand Wagnerian finale, let's watch the snippy the wonderchimp come unglued in public and bark at the press.

Bring on the pretzels and order another round of triples.

[CMT]

12. I don't think he is going to run again

just my feeling.

[htuttle]

13. I sure hope he runs

I do a great Perot impression that I haven't been able to use in years...

"If you're not going to dance, get off the dance floor."

:evilgrin:

[JPace]

15. If he is going to support bush.....

I would just as soon he stay out of the campaigns.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

16. Is there any solid proof of this???

.

[DemNoir]

17. Please let this be true

Its the best gift any Dem could ask for

[SoCalDem]

18. Perot is a joke.. He threatens no one

He does hate the Bushes though.. If he wants to help, he could dump some money into anti-Bush action....But Ross...sit this one out...the "aliens" might return :)

[On the Road]

21. I Have Been Hoping Against Hope for a 3rd-Party Candidate

A Perot candidacy would be very, very bad news for Bush even if he gets no more votes than Nader did. In a close election it could make all the difference. 3rd parties have swung many Presidential elections, including 2000, 1992, 1980, and 1968.

Perot will trash Bush mercilessly on the defecit. For some reason, nobody seems to be scoring points on the issue now, or if they are nobody is reacting. Criticism from Perot cannot be reflexively knocked off as partisan sniping.

I actually like a lot of what Perot offered in 92, as weird as he was. Defecits, job loss, trade agreements, etc. And he had a kind of nonpartisan town-hall vision of democracy, as unwieldy as it is for a country this big.

[Merlin]

22. Perot is a smart guy, and he's right on many issues.

There's no doubt in my mind he ran in '92 because he wanted to see Bush 1 ousted. If he runs now, it will be for the same reason.

Is he a little screwy? You bet. As Kevin Phillips said, "Somewhere in Ross's psyche, there's an 'A' wire attached to a 'B' terminal."

But he's absolutely right about deficit spending and the total plunge this nation has taken into utter dependency upon foreign capital to prop up our unsustainable deficit.

He was right to warn the nation in '92 that these deficits steal from our children, and jeapordize their future.

He was right to warn that the nation had better prepare for globalization.

He educated the country, and he should be thanked for doing so.

Fortunately for us, his ego forced him to rejoin the race and split the repulsive vote. Let's hope he does it again.

[FlaGranny]

27. A lot of what Perot

said made sense. He's a cute little banty rooster old-style republican without a chance to win the presidency. I'd welcome him if he enters the race.

[Neutrino]

23. His hot temper did him in last time. He couldn't debate

even though he had a lot of good ideas. Just can't do that temper
stuff. Gotta suck it up and be cool. Clinton was a master of that,
and it served him well. for the most part.

[0007]

24. Remember folks

Ross must get even for what poopy did to him in 92. Ross claims the spooks trashed him and I believe there must be something to it.

He's back where the road meets the rubber (Ross's sez) and trust me he'll be trying to get even this time around. junior has got big worries and Ross is the man to give it to the kid.

[PoliticalJunkie]

25. Perot will never run

So what if he comes out with a book? It will get about two days notice.

[0007]

30. How do know so much?

waiting.............

[2cents]

28. Perot will do better now than he did in '92

Laugh if you want to, but people are hurtin' for jobs, and the future looks worse.

If Perot runs on a semi-protectionist platform of "America First",
"American Jobs - For Americans" or , "a vote for Perot - is a vote to save your job"...he'll do better than the 20% he had in '92.

And the votes won't all come from Repubs.

Competency is not an issue--the "burnt out Texan" threshold has been breached.

[Rich Hunt]

29. Oh, god, PLEASE let it be true

Perot has a vendetta against the Bush family, I know.

But "flashback to '92"? I thought Perot WAS 92. He should take his copious millions and fund someone new to draw votes away from his nemesis, because Perot was, like, the pet rock of the early 90s.

[Wonder]

31. I voted for Perot after Clinton pissed me of

when he back peddled on Loni Guenier. It was about that time I thought slick willy had skidded so slipperily over to the right of center. I felt he wasn't walking his talk. Perot at this stage of the game? why not the whole kit and kabboodle at this point swings back and forth from cannery row carneval and the burning man. At least Perot is good for a few laughs. In fact Kucinich might want to take some points from Perot if only in presentation, if he had come across with a bit of that I am the man ease, rather than a over ampped chi-woo-wah, he'd have had a better time of actually being taken seriously.

[Catherine Vincent]

34. What was the deal with Loni Gunier?

Was she supposed to be one of Clinton's aids?

[genius]

33. Now Kucinich is the man of the people

Perot is under investigation in connection with the CA energy crisis. Stopping the investigation is what the recall is really about. Too many Rethugs are also going to go down if CA continues investigating.