Perot Loses Bid to Block Clinton-Dole Debate

A federal judge Tuesday rejected a request by Ross Perot and another third-party candidate to block Sunday’s nationally televised presidential debate unless they are allowed to participate.

U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan, after hearing more than two hours of legal arguments, said he lacked legal authority to tell the Federal Election Commission and the Presidential Debate Commission to include Perot, John Hagelin, the nominee of the Natural Law Party, or other candidates in the debates.

The election commission has jurisdiction to rule on candidate complaints involving the elections, and courts can intervene only if a candidate can show he would otherwise suffer “irreparable harm,” Hogan said, adding that attorneys for Perot and Hagelin had failed to meet that test.

Attorneys for both candidates said they would appeal the ruling, and the U.S. Court of Appeals here indicated it would consider the case Thursday. But legal experts said they doubt the appellate court will overrule Hogan, one of the capital’s most highly regarded judges.

Perot and Hagelin can also pursue their complaint with the FEC, but the election commission is not required to resolve the complaint before the election--let alone before Sunday’s scheduled debate, FEC lawyer Steve Hershkowitz told the judge. FEC officials have said the procedures they are required to follow all but ensure that no decision will be made until well after the election.

“It’s not a constitutional right” for Perot or anyone else to be included in the debates, Hershkowitz said. Congress established the rules governing presidential elections, and “this is not something that the courts interfere with,” he said.

Hogan, in his ruling, endorsed that point.

“We are sort of at a point that reminds me of the baseball playoffs . . . where you have a wild card team that isn’t allowed in the World Series even if it’s succeeding in the playoffs. That’s regrettable,” Hogan said.

“The court recognizes the frustration . . . of all who consider themselves legitimate third-party candidates,” he added. “But I believe the complaint should be with Congress and the statutory framework established with the FEC to operate.”

The bipartisan Presidential Debate Commission last month recommended that Perot not be included in the debates on grounds he has no realistic chance of being elected. Subsequently, President Clinton and Bob Dole, the Republican candidate, agreed on three debates--two between themselves and one between their running mates--that exclude third-party candidates.

Perot attorney Jamin B. Raskin argued that the debate commission is denying his candidate admission despite the fact he got 19% of the vote in the 1992 presidential election.

“The American people know that something is terribly wrong here, and the court cannot let this decision stand,” Raskin declared. “Losers have the same 1st Amendment rights as winners.”

Exclusion from the televised debates “makes it more difficult for us,” Perot’s running mate, Pat Choate, said after Tuesday’s decision.

“At the same time, it gives us a terrific issue and a great example of how closed the political system has become and how outsiders are truly excluded,” he added.