Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 22, 1993 TAG: 9303220070
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
PEROT RETURNS TO PRIME-TIME TV
Ross Perot returned to prime-time TV Sunday, urging Americans to flood his mail with demands for deficit reduction and government reform - and to join the expanding rolls of his national political organization.As Perot outlined his agenda during his 30-minute "national referendum" he paid to air on NBC, a narrator broke in periodically to ask 17 questions, all of them on more than 30 million ballots Perot distributed in advance in copies of TV Guide. Leaders of Perot's United We Stand America group organized events nationwide to help fill the mails with a positive response.
Given those efforts, the survey's unscientific nature and the tone of Perot's questions, no one should be surprised if the public gives Perot's agenda a resounding, "Yes!"
Even as they criticized the format, the political parties and analysts were watching closely, still fascinated by the man who sent the 1992 race into so many confounding turns.
Worried that Perot might attack Clinton's initiative, the Democratic National Committee sent a memo to leading Democrats last week urging them to respond quickly to any criticisms.
But, as has been his trademark since the election, Perot aimed most of his barbs at Congress.
"Watch Congress: They talk about savings but what they want to do is spend," Perot said. "They treat money like it falls out of the sky. But it comes from hard-working people."
He applauded Clinton's proposed government reforms, and urged his viewers to press Congress to enact them.
But he also voiced skepticism that Clinton could provide health coverage for all and still reduce government spending on health care. "These savings are just a guess," Perot said. He also said Clinton had not provided many of the details of how he plans to cut the deficit.