Perot Has ‘Contempt for Constitution,’ Quayle Says

Vice President Dan Quayle attacked Ross Perot on Friday as a “temperamental tycoon who has contempt for the Constitution,” the harshest language yet used by a senior Administration official about the prospective White House contender.

“Ross Perot is a false solution to our problem,” Quayle said in a speech to the Federalist Society, a conservative group. “He would add to the gridlock, then compound the people’s frustration by elevating the blame game to an art form.”

In a reference to Perot’s wealth--estimated at $3 billion--and his plans to bankroll much of his anticipated campaign himself, Quayle said: “And I’d like to say talk is cheap, but somehow that doesn’t capture the spirit of the Perot campaign.”

Quayle based his charge that Perot has “contempt” for the Constitution on a statement the Texan made last fall during an appearance on ABC-TV’s “Good Morning America” program. Asked what advice he would offer President Bush to solve the country’s economic woes, Perot said Americans should look at the countries that have thrived in recent times.

“Germany and Japan are winning,” Perot said. “Why are they winning? They got new constitutions in 1945,” following their defeat in World War II.

The German and Japanese constitutions reflect the realities of life after the Industrial Revolution, Perot went on to say. By contrast, he said: “Our Constitution was written 200 years ago, before it occurred.”

Perot did not make clear at the time whether he advocated a rewriting of the U.S. Constitution. And on Friday, Perot’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment on Quayle’s remarks.

Bush himself has advocated at least six amendments to the Constitution in the last 3 1/2 years, advocating changes to ban flag burning, require a balanced budget, prohibit abortion, limit congressional terms, allow prayer in public schools and give the President a line-item veto on spending bills. So far, none of the proposals have passed.

In his speech, Quayle also took a shot at Perot’s call for electronic town halls in which participants could vote on proposed policies, saying that would amount to “nullifying representative democracy with a bizarre scheme of government by polls.”

On other topics, Quayle said any meaningful change in much of the government’s policy was unlikely as long as Democrats are in the majority in Congress. He said that even a plan to reduce the size of congressional staffs “is about as likely as my taking a guest spot on your favorite TV show, ‘Murphy Brown.’ ”

In a much-publicized speech last month, Quayle targeted that show for criticism because the title character gave birth to a baby out of wedlock.