Perot Returns in Triumph to Convention

Ross Perot returned like a conquering hero Saturday night to the national convention he founded.

Perot, who gave the keynote address at the Reform Party’s national founding convention, sounded very much as he did in speeches when he was running for president last year.

“We will make the 21st century the best in our country’s history,” he said. “We focus on results for the people.”

Before Perot’s speech, while delegates of the party discussed a national platform, the leader of a splinter group predicted the party is doomed to be a footnote in history because Perot exerts too much control.

“They either don’t realize they’re being dictated to, or it’s all right with them that they’re being dictated to,” said Linda Witherspoon, president of the fledgling American Reform Party.

Witherspoon, a Memphis, Tenn., physician, dismissed statements by convention delegates that their state organizations are independent and that Perot is a national spokesman only because he can garner media attention.

Reform Party members, however, said they admire Perot because he speaks about issues they care about, such as the federal budget and campaign finance reform. Some of them say they do not understand the criticism from Witherspoon’s organization.

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“Right now, you don’t see Perot,” Mike Corbett, a delegate from Highlands Ranch, Colo., said before the speech. “He’s in the background. The majority of people want to see this party get on with the business of issues. They’re tired of the wrangling.”

Perot, who took the podium 30 minutes late after a series of stump speeches, began by saying to about 1,100 people present: “I’ve got to ask you a question. If you’d like me to go away, I will. If you want me to stay, I will.”

He was greeted by long cheers and loud applause.

Before the speech, many convention delegates said they were not expecting Perot to make a major announcement this weekend.

“This is much bigger than Mr. Perot, and he’ll agree with that,” said George Baker, a delegate from Golden City, Mo.

Witherspoon acknowledged she does not know how many members the American Reform Party has. She predicted it would eclipse the organization Perot founded.

In early October, former Reform Party activists from 23 states met in Schaumburg, Ill., to establish the American Reform Party.

Witherspoon contends Perot is a liability, pointing to the fact that he received less than half as many votes for president in 1996 as he did in 1992. She said too many Americans perceive Perot as “a two-time loser, a third-rate candidate.”