ELECTIONS ’92 : Perot Dismisses GOP Attacks as ‘Silly Putty’

Trying to re-establish his political momentum, prospective presidential candidate Ross Perot on Thursday dismissed Republican attacks on him as “silly putty that comes up from time to time” and urged supporters not be distracted by the salvos.

“It’s not hard on me. This is silly, goofy stuff,” Perot told a crowd estimated at 6,000 that gathered in a Hartford park. “We’ll get back to the basics.”

Perot’s comments came just hours after Richard N. Bond, chairman of the Republican National Committee, appeared on NBC’s “Today” show to continue a dispute with the Texas billionaire that began as a verbal tussle between the two men Wednesday evening on CNN’s “Larry King Live” call-in show.

Bond accused the undeclared independent candidate of making a “wild and reckless” charge in saying that the Republicans are engaging in “dirty tricks” against him. “Ross Perot implies that we have some cloak-and-dagger guys going into his gold-plated garbage cans behind his estate every morning. That’s just not true,” Bond said.

But Perot stood by his “dirty tricks” claim. And as he said when Bond called him during his appearance on the Larry King show, Perot promised to provide proof of his claim at a later date.

Perot also scoffed at the recent comments about him by President Bush, Vice President Dan Quayle and Administration drug czar Bob Martinez depicting him as a conspiratorial zealot with a proclivity toward snooping on enemies, his employees and even his own children.

“This is all they know how to do,” Perot said. “They don’t know how to create jobs. They don’t know how to rebuild the country. They don’t know how to deal with anything.”

And, in Washington, the White House confirmed Thursday that the Administration had arranged for Perot to pay $5 million to help rebuild Panama after the United States invaded in 1989. Perot had mentioned the incident on CNN Wednesday night. Ultimately, Congress provided money, making Perot’s contribution unnecessary.

Perot produced a handwritten letter from Bush dated Jan. 4, 1990, thanking him for the offer of money and “for caring so much.” Bush notes: “Once again, you have shown the Perot spirit of unselfishness when there is trouble or when Americans’ lives are at stake. Most sincerely and gratefully, George.”

The Perot rally Thursday celebrated the volunteer effort that obtained about 164,000 signatures to qualify him as a presidential candidate on the Connecticut ballot in November--more than 10 times the number required. Within the last week, he has held similar rallies in California, Colorado, Massachusetts and Maryland.

Among those Perot introduced from the podium was Elliott Roosevelt, the great-grandson of Franklin D. Roosevelt. In an interview, Roosevelt said he is helping gather signatures to qualify Perot for the ballot in New York state.

“I’ve always admired him,” Roosevelt said. “He’s always been a hero of mine. When I had meningitis and was in the hospital for five weeks, he personally helped me recover.”