Perot May Keep His Name on State Ballots

Backpedaling somewhat only a day after quitting his independent presidential bid, Ross Perot said Friday night that he will allow his name to remain on the November ballot if that proves to be wish of his supporters.

“It’s not appropriate for me unilaterally to take my name off,” Perot said on ABC-TV’s “20/20,” thus injecting a new element of uncertainty about his true intentions.

The Texas billionaire further roiled the waters by suggesting later, in an appearance on CNN’s “Larry King Live,” that his supporters could, in effect, form a third political party that would endorse candidates not only for the White House but for the Senate and House.

“We can make things work,” he said. “Let’s organize. We can provide the swing vote to see who gets in the House and Senate and provide the swing vote to see who goes to the White House.”

He urged his backers to “stay the course as a united team.” Together, he said, “we can give candidates a chance to sign on to our program.”

Appearing during a special 90-minute version of the CNN talk show, Perot at one point looked directly into the camera and told his supporters: “If we stay together we can force the Democrats and Republicans to do the right thing for the country, and we can make a contribution that would be unique in this country.”

But at another point, Perot said the idea of uniting into a movement was only an undefined notion that he plans to “kick around” this weekend during meetings with his petition drive’s state leaders in Dallas.

He said a tentative decision on the matter could be made as early as Monday and then it would be taken back to grass-roots supporters for ratification.

In any case, Perot declared, “I have not gone away,” adding, “I don’t have a personal agenda.” He said if he remains on the state ballots, he would be available as a protest choice.

It was also on the King show, on Feb. 20, that Perot opened the door to a presidential bid, igniting a grass-roots response that reshaped the political landscape.

The Texas billionaire rocked the political community Thursday by abruptly abandoning his insurgent candidacy. He said he had realized that he could not win and that his presence in the race would only ensure that no candidate could get a majority in the Electoral College.

Because that would throw the election into the House of Representatives, he said, that would paralyze the country.

At the same time, he urged supporters to continue their petition drives as a way to demonstrate their discontent with the Republican and Democratic parties. But he told them they were free to vote for either George Bush or Bill Clinton in November.

Some volunteers felt angry and betrayed by Perot’s withdrawal, but others said they would stage marches and rallies to persuade him to change his mind. State coordinators were converging on Dallas on Friday to meet with him.

During his CNN appearance, a number of callers told Perot of their deep hurt and disappointment by his decision to withdraw, and many of them, including entertainer Cher, pleaded with him to change his mind.

“I’m willing to give up everything I’m doing,” Cher said, if only Perot would re-enter the race for the presidency.

“Like it or not, you are the father of this movement,” she told him.

To such pleas, Perot for the most part reiterated his vision of a movement or party that would seek to influence congressional as well as presidential elections.

“We have enormous leverage, and we can use that for the good of the country,” Perot said, noting that his vast data base containing the names and addresses of millions of disaffected voters will allow his supporters to force fundamental changes in the political system. Apparently he meant he has ready access to 8 million to 9 million activists who could be mobilized to support his causes.

Perot also appeared Friday night on “20/20” and disclosed in an interview with Barbara Walters that his supporters are scheduling a mass march in Washington on Labor Day and have invited both Bush and Clinton to address the rally.

Both men moved quickly to court Perot supporters after the Texas billionaire announced his withdrawal.

Perot has been certified for the November ballot in 23 states, and certifications are pending in eight others. In California, his petitions have been validated, but he will not be certified for the ballot unless his 54 electors all file declarations with Secretary of State March Fong Eu. Eu says only 38 Perot electors have declared.

He told Walters that he will not decide whether to take formal steps to remove his name from the state ballots until after consulting with his volunteer leaders.

“I will talk to all the volunteer leaders as a group soon,” Perot said, noting that they were the ones who put his name on the ballots. “And we will visit and decide whether or not the responsible thing--see, they put my name on. . . .”

Perot added: “If the volunteers feel the appropriate thing to do is to take the name off the ballot, then the name is off the ballot and you cannot get it back on.”

Ironically, Perot never consulted with his volunteers before announcing his withdrawal from the race. He left his campaign headquarters without saying a word to his stunned volunteers who were staffing his telephone bank. Perot left that task to Tom Luce, a senior adviser.

In his interview with Walters, Perot said he was not bothered by criticism from some quarters that he was a “quitter” who abandoned his ardent supporters.

Perot, who never formally declared his candidacy, also struck a cynical note when Walters asked him how he now feels about politics.

“The political process to select a President has nothing to do with picking a good President,” Perot said. “It has everything to do with keeping people who might be qualified from ever wanting to get within a thousand miles of it--because of the nature of the process.”

The Walters interview was taped Friday afternoon in New York but broadcast Friday night.

On CNN, a number of callers criticized Perot for abandoning them.

One caller told him: “You never made a real commitment and played with their hopes and dreams . . . only to dash . . . their hopes.”