Perot Visits State to Drum Up Support for New Reform Party : Politics: Aides outline plan for toll-free phone lines and five regional offices around California.

Making a weekend dash across California aimed at winning a line on the state’s ballot for his proposed Reform Party, Ross Perot on Saturday offered the first concrete evidence that he will provide the sort of money needed to make that idea real.

Perot spoke in Orange and Santa Clara counties, pushing his theme that several thousand California volunteers could “change the history of this country” by gathering signatures and registering voters in the new political party in time to meet the state-imposed deadline of Oct. 24. California has the earliest qualifying date in the country for parties seeking a place on the November, 1996, ballot.

As he spoke, aides confirmed that Perot’s organization, United We Stand America, was transferring 50 staff members from out of state to California to help coordinate the petition drive. They also said the organization would pay to establish several toll-free telephone lines and set up five regional headquarters around the state to handle the massive task of either collecting 890,064 valid petition signatures or registering 89,007 new party members in less than four weeks.

Perot’s appearances coincide with the publication today in about 40 newspapers across the state of advertisements containing the petition to gain recognition for the party. The advertisements cost about $360,000, Perot said, but would “put a petition in 6 million houses come Sunday morning.”

“We will give them an October surprise,” said the Texas billionaire, who ran a losing but nonetheless powerful independent candidacy for President in 1992.

Nationally, some Republican leaders have reacted bitterly to Perot’s announcement of a planned third party, saying he is a spoiler who in 1992 elected Clinton and could well do so again in 1996.

As Perot spoke in Orange County, several Republican protesters displayed two signs, one of which denounced “Clinton’s Puppet Party,” but Perot turned the demonstrators into a foil. Pointing to the sign, he remarked that almost two-thirds of Americans tell pollsters they want a third party. “Read my lips. . . . This party will elect its candidate,” he said.

A dozen United We Stand staff members were at the Saturday morning session in Buena Park, where about 400 volunteers heard Perot speak for 75 minutes. The volunteers also received detailed instructions at a workshop before the 11 a.m. address, learning how to gather signatures, register voters for the Reform Party and coordinate with local and regional headquarters by using the 800 numbers and the mail.

Perot was at a similar event Friday night attended by about 600 people in San Diego and is scheduled to be in Sacramento and Marin County today.

Russ Verney, national executive director of United We Stand, said he is certain the volunteers will get the job done. “The folks in California want this, and when you see 500 people turn out here and in San Diego, that is quite a work force,” he said.

The five headquarters that United We Stand is opening are each in areas that gave Perot substantial votes in 1992. Statewide, he received 19% of the vote, the same as his nationwide percentage, while winning 18%, or 232,394 votes, in Los Angeles County and 25%, or 232,394 votes, in Orange County. In addition to Los Angeles and Anaheim, the regional offices will be in San Jose, Marin County and Sacramento, with each responsible for regions around them, Verney said.

Political consultants believe that the Perot organization can meet the deadline, especially because of his deep pockets, but had questioned whether Perot would, in fact, put the resources into the state that are necessary to conduct the petition campaign.

Perot “certainly has the grass roots and the power to achieve the 90,000” new registrants necessary to qualify his party by registration, said Alan Hoffenblum, a campaign consultant from Los Angeles. As far as the nearly 900,000 signatures needed to qualify the party by petition are concerned, “it is just a question of will Perot open up his checkbook?”

“You are not dealing with an impotent group,” said Hoffenblum, who added that he taught campaign organizing to the organization in the past. “You are dealing with highly motivated people who are committed to the movement and the organization . . . and they have the names and addresses of these people.”

“This is difficult but not impossible,” said Stu Mollrich, a well-known direct-mail and campaign specialist based in Orange County. “If you and I were a couple of rich guys who wanted to start a party in 30 days from scratch, it would cost a couple of million bucks if we just wanted to pay for everything,” he said. But Perot has visibility and an organization, said Mollrich, so the expense will be less.

“I just don’t know to what extent they are committed to this,” he said. “The way that organization runs is so mysterious. They generally stay away from hiring professionals.”

Mollrich speculated that it would be easier to gather the nearly 900,000 petition signatures than try to convince 89,000 people to change parties or register with the Reform Party.

Verney said the effort will proceed on a dual track, trying to qualify through both signatures and registration, then make a decision in 10 to 14 days about where to concentrate for the final push.

Attacking the complicated voter registration form that must be used in the state, Verney said the petition signature route would probably prove “easier because it is an easier decision for someone to make.” In addition, the signature drive will provide a valuable list for the campaign, he said.

Both he and Perot extolled the passion of the volunteers, saying they, and not money, would make the difference. Perot said it was a California volunteer who came up with the idea to distribute the petitions through newspaper advertisements. “The unit cost is 6 cents a household, “ he said. “Cheaper than mail.”

Volunteer empowerment was also evident during the workshop. A volunteer quietly suggested to the session leader that Anaheim Stadium would be fertile ground Saturday and today because the California Angels are in a tight pennant race, and soon people were being solicited to go to the games.

Volunteers will call an 800 number to turn in daily tallies and tell where they were gathered. Headquarters people will deploy volunteers based on those reports, sending additional workers to particularly fertile areas.

Perot has left somewhat vague what, specifically, his new party would stand for, and his speech, while heavy on identifying problems, was short on solutions. He pressed his themes about eliminating lobbying and the trade deficit, instituting term limits, balancing the budget, fixing Medicare and Social Security, reforming the tax system and eviscerating special interests.

Volunteers at the session included people from as far as Santa Barbara, though the bulk were from Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties. The vast majority were white and older than 40. Many had been active in United We Stand America chapters, but others were fresh to the group.

Some expressed support for Perot for President, while others said they favored retired Gen. Colin L. Powell, conservative former television commentator Patrick Buchanan or others.

Times staff writer Michael Granberry in San Diego contributed to this story.