Perot Backers to Hold Rally, Plan Next Move

Still searching for a purpose after their leader abruptly withdrew his unannounced bid for the presidency, Ventura County supporters of Ross Perot plan to regroup today at a rally in Ventura’s Plaza Park.

“The basic consensus is to see the organization hold together and to put it to some good use,” said campaign volunteer Rod Billman, 66, speaking from a Thousand Oaks campaign office that workers plan to keep open until told otherwise by the state organization.

Billman and other Ventura County volunteers said the purpose of the rally is to exchange ideas among Perot’s volunteers and decide what to do next.

“The Perot Petition Committee . . . has been and will continue to be a force for political change in this country,” reads a statement written Friday by the Ventura County petition office. “Ours is a just cause that will succeed with or without H. Ross Perot.”

“We’re trying to get a consensus of issues we want to direct toward the remaining candidates,” said Steve Sheppard, regional treasurer for the campaign. “As a group, no matter what happens with Ross Perot, we have something to say and we will continue to say it.”

Sheppard said the next step may be to focus Perot’s anti-Washington populism on Bill Clinton and George Bush. “We’ll try to find which one will make those issues important to their campaign,” he said.

Supporters were heartened by Perot’s statements Friday night on “Larry King Live,” the call-in television show that launched his bid for the presidency. On that show, Perot encouraged his volunteers to maintain the campaign organization and turn it into a powerful lobby capable of producing a swing vote in the November election.

He also left the door open to a last-minute write-in vote, if neither party candidate responds “to the will of the people.”

Billman said he was delighted by Perot’s most recent comments. “That gave me a lot of encouragement,” he said. “He said he does not want to walk away from this.”

The rally is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., said Becca Whitnall, 22, a volunteer from Ventura.

“At first it was a show of support for Ross, but now it’s turning into a chance to keep people together,” Whitnall said. “People are talking about sticking together, even forming their own political party.”

For the time being, the volunteers at Perot’s Ventura County offices are still together, sharing stories of where they were when they heard about Perot’s decision.

When he heard the news Thursday, Billman had just made flight reservations to Dallas, where he had plans to visit Perot’s central campaign office “to see how things are going firsthand.”

While Billman canceled his trip, Ventura resident Bob Hayden, California state coordinator for the Perot campaign, has flown to Dallas for a meeting with Perot and other state representatives.

Some campaign volunteers hold out hope that the state coordinators will persuade Perot to reconsider his decision. “They may talk him into coming back,” Whitnall said. “That’s the plan, anyway.”

“This is still the Perot Petition Committee,” Sheppard asserted.

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