NEWS ANALYSIS : Few Embracing Perot’s Call for Sacrifice : Independent: His popularity is on the rise again, but charisma is unlikely to rally many to the cause of austerity.

With a surplus of folksy sayings, a bottomless advertising budget and equal billing on the debate podium with George Bush and Bill Clinton, Ross Perot has helped heal his wounded public image and cast the spotlight on his abiding concern, the U.S. budget deficit.

But even as the Texas billionaire basks in the glow of recent days, his deficit-slashing quest--the centerpiece of his anti-business-as-usual campaign--continues to run smack into the realities of a faltering economy. So far, neither Clinton nor Bush has modified strategy in response to Perot’s clarion call for massive spending cuts and higher taxes.

And by anecdotal evidence, at least, Americans seem receptive to even greater government spending in order to create jobs, just the opposite of what Perot has demanded.

“Perot’s message is very Draconian. However I don’t think he’ll be President so I don’t think his plan means much,” said Lawrence A. Kudlow, chief economist at the Bear, Stearns investment firm in New York and a former Ronald Reagan Administration official. “But at the general level of political rhetoric, Perot will keep the issues of excessive spending and the deficit on the front burner.”

According to several political analysts and economists, Perot’s down-home barbs on political gridlock and corrupt special interests have succeeded in raising public awareness about the problem of the federal budget deficit. His own scorched-earth approach, however, is commonly dismissed as beyond the pale of public acceptance and is not expected to prompt dramatic changes on the part of the other candidates.

Clinton, for example, is considering ways to accelerate spending increases to stimulate the stalled economy. And Bush, in ruling out tax hikes, is not viewed as putting forth a complete plan to fight the $330-billion deficit.

At first blush, Perot has emerged from Sunday’s debate in great shape for a candidate who bitterly disappointed his followers by dropping out earlier this year. His one-liners--”I’m not playing Lawrence Welk music tonight,” and in a good-natured reference to himself, “I’m all ears”--charmed many viewers and led to an overnight boost in his popularity.

Perot’s phone-bank workers Monday reported the highest volume of calls since he abruptly quit the race in July. The long-shot candidate also met with his advertising strategists Monday, staying off the campaign trail to work on TV commercials and the next debate. He has bought network TV time this week for 30- and 60-second spots, and an hour on ABC-TV next Saturday.

Paul Maslin, a Democratic pollster who worked for Perot earlier in the year, said that Perot might continue to play his role--sort of as the austere economic conscience of the campaign--with little interference from the others.

Yet few expect widespread acceptance of Perot’s plan of “shared sacrifice” to cut the deficit, a program that features tax hikes for upper-income Social Security beneficiaries, higher income taxes for many in the middle class, a phased-in 50-cent increase in the gasoline tax and a battery of other controversial measures. Perot has said his plan, which could be launched in 1994, would put the budget into a surplus in five years.

Earlier this month, a Los Angeles Times Poll documented the public’s widespread reluctance for the “shared sacrifice” that Perot is preaching. The poll found, for instance, that 46% of Americans believe the government should be spending more than it is already--just 18% said it should spend less. Seven out of 10 opposed the higher gasoline tax and more than six in 10 opposed the cutbacks affecting some Social Security recipients.

Moreover, 38% listed the economy as the topic they most want the candidates to discuss, 28% said jobs and just 17% pointed to the deficit.

“The American people are not ready to accept Draconian tax increases to reduce the deficit--I have the data right in front of me,” said John Brennan, director of the Times Poll.

One clue to public attitudes is the economic slump that has lingered far longer than most analysts ever expected. On Oct. 2, the Labor Department reported that the nation lost 57,000 jobs in September and the unemployment rate remained stuck in the 7.5% range. Public pressure to confront the immediate problems of jobs and economic insecurity far outweighs the more abstract, long-term problem of the budget deficit, even though analysts worry that the deficit ultimately holds back gains in living standards.

Some believe that Perot’s real influence is that of a consciousness-raiser on the fundamental imperfections in the economy.

“There may be a sense in which Perot’s quixotic venture provides some political cover for the next President. But neither Clinton nor Bush is going to sign onto Perot’s program,” said Alan Blinder, a Princeton University economist who advises the Clinton campaign.