Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 25, 1992 TAG: 9203250064
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARGARET EDDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The 61-year-old can-do computer magnate, who recently announced he'll run for president if voters in 50 states put him on the ballot, has spawned an overnight political organization that is soliciting backers across the Old Dominion.
"It's enormous. It's incredible. It's fantastic," said Jim Parker of Virginia Beach, a retiree who says dozens of calls daily are pouring into the Virginia Beach office he's donated to the Perot effort.
"I haven't gotten off the phone all morning," added Ginger Davis, a retired registered nurse assisting Parker. Between 9 and 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Davis said she answered more than 100 calls.
The activity apparently is being duplicated elsewhere in the state. Following an impromptu organizational meeting Sunday in Richmond, Perot supporters are soliciting like-minded individuals in Western Virginia, Richmond and Northern Virginia.
"I really think he'll be elected president if I have any sense of how people in this country feel about politicians," said Frank Stewart, a retired foreign service officer from Marion who is the Perot contact in Western Virginia. "We're on the wrong course."
Secretary of the Commonwealth Michael Brown said his office has received so many requests for information packets about how to get Perot on the Virginia ballot that he has decided to stop mailing them out.
Brown said he mailed 145 such packets from Friday to Tuesday.
Third-party or independent candidates hoping to appear on the presidential ballot in Virginia must obtain about 14,000 signatures from registered voters by Aug. 21, including at least 200 in each congressional district.
Before names are accepted, the candidate also must name a vice-presidential running mate and 13 electors, who would represent him in the Electoral College if he carries the state.
The prospect of Perot's naming Jesse Jackson as a running mate worries some state Democrats, who only a few days ago were delighting in the notion of Perot undercutting President Bush. Perot has acknowledged an interest in running with Jackson.
If Perot runs, "it turns the whole business into a three-dimensional chess game," said Bob Squier, a Washington-based Democratic consultant.
Perot, who lives in Dallas, "would create big-time problems for the president" in his adopted home state, Texas, Squier said. But with Jackson as a running mate, Perot could pose equal or greater problems for Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton, the likely Democratic nominee, the consultant acknowledged.
Solid black support is considered vital to Democratic candidates.
Political scientists and consultants note that no third-party candidate ever has captured the presidency. And, Perot is untested politically, despite his popularity as a speaker and his visibility.
But widespread voter discontent and Perot's presumed ability to bankroll his candidacy are wild cards. "The mood out there is nastier than I've seen it in 20 years," Squier said.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB