Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 29, 1992 TAG: 9203290262
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: F-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TOM RAUM ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
President Bush's re-election campaign is suggesting Perot's potential challenge would hurt the Democrats more than the president.
Campaign spokeswoman Torie Clarke said Perot "may be having some fun" in considering a challenge to his fellow Texan. But, she said, "it doesn't make any difference to us one way or the other" whether he gets in.
She predicted Perot would take votes away from Clinton, citing Perot's support for abortion rights and gun control.
Other Bush aides were more wary.
"You have to take seriously anybody who's got $2 billion who wants to run for president," said Charles Black, a senior adviser for the Bush campaign.
Ronald Brown, Democratic Party chairman, saw Perot doing damage to the GOP.
"My judgment is his candidacy will debilitate George Bush, will hurt him very badly and will therefore help us elect a Democrat president," Brown said.
Either way, Perot organizers have received enough signatures on a petition to qualify the industrialist to appear as an independent on the general election ballot in Tennessee, the first state he's qualified for so far.
Perot said last week that he would run for president if supporters put his name on the ballot in all 50 states. He said he would spend up to $100 million of his own money if he were to wage such a campaign.
Whether Perot would draw more votes from Bush or from Clinton is a hard question in this unpredictable presidential season, analysts suggest.
"It seems that at first blush, he would hurt the Republican side more than the Democratic side," said Bruce Buchanan, a political science professor at the University of Texas. "But if you look deeper into the situation, he's going to appeal to the same kind of disaffected voters that both Jerry Brown and Pat Buchanan are."
Still, Buchanan says, Perot "might hamper the Republicans slightly more than the Democrats because he attacks the Republicans' conservative base."
In any event, Perot could be a major factor in states where the vote between the two major candidates is close, Buchanan said.
Drives are under way in every state to have Perot's name placed on November ballots as an independent candidate.
Although an independent candidate has never come even close to winning the presidency, there has never been one backed with $100 million.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB