No Hope for Lamm if Wolf Runs

It may prove to be the shortest presidential candidacy in history. On Tuesday, former Democratic Gov. Richard Lamm of Colorado announced he would seek the nomination of the Reform Party, which Ross Perot founded after his strong run for the White House in 1992. On Wednesday, Perot congratulated Lamm on his “courage” and then revealed he was also ready to again “make whatever sacrifices are necessary” if the Reform Party wants him as its standard bearer. Perot got 19% of the vote four years ago and is entitled to $32 million in federal matching funds if he runs this year. Lamm, who is something less than a nationally known figure, has $6,000 in campaign funds banked. It’s strictly no contest. “The wolf and the lamb shall lie down together,” Woody Allen once wrote, paraphrasing Isaiah. “But only the wolf shall get up.”

Perot’s standing with the public appears to have fallen sharply since his initial run, with a recent Los Angeles Times Poll finding that 57% of Americans view him unfavorably. But at this point there’s little evidence that either President Clinton or Bob Dole is inspiring anything like passionate popular enthusiasm, meaning it could be a mistake to dismiss a Perot candidacy as lacking in electoral importance come November. So here we go again, with all those graph-filled infomercials featuring Perot and his pointer, out there where the rubber meets the road and when if the thing doesn’t work you just get down under the hood and fix it. It’s all simple common sense, as Perot said four years ago and which, no doubt, he will soon be saying again and again and again.