Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 28, 1993 TAG: 9303280124
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
A rally by Perot at the 2,500-seat Civic Center auditorium Saturday afternoon drew a standing-room-only crowd.
Perot didn't disappoint. Having already spoken at packed houses in High Point and Fayetteville, N.C., earlier in the day, Perot mesmerized the Roanoke crowd for nearly an hour and a half.
He talked about government waste and corruption and told the mostly white, middle-class crowd that their support was the reason he was succeeding in fighting it.
"It's closer to the truth than what I think we're getting," said Vinton lawyer Bruce Mayer, when asked for his reaction to Perot's speech.
"The thing Ross can accomplish is he will make [government] tell the truth," Mayer said.
People seemed genuinely fond of Perot and referred to him often with the familiar "Ross."
"I like him and I always have," Lamont Brown, a contractor from Forest, said after Perot's speech. Brown was at the rally with his wife, Helen, a real estate broker.
"It's just plain talk," Brown said. Government is about to put both him and his wife out of business, he said. Government "is not for the common people."
One of those listening to Perot criticize waste and corruption in Washington was 6th District Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke. Goodlatte, who was invited to the rally by Perot's grass-roots organization, United We Stand America, stood in a doorway near the front of the auditorium, occasionally applauding Perot's remarks.
"It's important for people to stop and listen to what he says once in a while," Goodlatte said. "I like anybody who talks about fiscal responsibility," said Goodlatte, who said he was a little surprised by the size of the crowd.
The Civic Center doors opened at 3 p.m. and by 3:30 roughly 300 people were already seated in the auditorium listening to Jamie Mahon of Harrisonburg sing "Grandpa tell me about the good ole days."
Once inside and out of a heavy drizzle, people were handed a membership application to United We Stand America.
Bob Berry of Roanoke, a retired product manager for Norfolk Southern Corp., who was a volunteer at one of the membership tables, said he was surprised at how many people were joining up - an act requiring a $15 commitment.
The purpose of the rally was to boost the membership in United We Stand America, a non-profit educational organization aimed at spreading Perot's message.
"Our effectiveness is a direct function of the numbers we have," Perot told the crowd. "We have something more precious than lobbyists' money and that is the vote," he said.
Perot urged those who hadn't joined the group to do it before they left the Civic Center. "Do it while you're here today, while you're all excited," he said. "Because you might mellow out and get interested in something else."
The crowd welcomed him to the stage just after 5 p.m. with a standing ovation that drowned out a jazz band playing Patsy Cline's "Crazy." Perot adopted the theme song after Marlin Fitzwater, President Bush's press secretary, said the fiesty Perot was just that, crazy.
Banners, taped to the balcony so Perot could see them, read "Thanks, Ross" and "Created by God, Built through Blood, Sweat and Tears. It's Our Country. We Want It Back."
The rally organizers set aside the first few rows in the auditorium for high school and college students.
Joe Kirby and Trent Edwards, 16-year-old Salem High School students, were at the rally because the teacher in their 10th-grade advanced placement government class promised them extra credit. They had talked about Perot before the election and knew something of what to expect.
Perot warmed up the crowd with a demonstration of his common touch. At the beginning of his speech, he had the young people in the audience stand.
"We're doing this because of you and . . . because we love you," Perot told them. "But we expect a lot out of you," he said, admonishing them to stay away from drugs.
He then asked any Vietnam veterans in the audience to stand for applause. "Now, let's hear it for these guys because we never thanked you when you came home," Perot said.
The country's biggest problem is its success, Perot said. "We've been so rich for so long we just assume it's our birthright."
He recalled the suffering people went through to settle the West and build the country.
Perot drew some of his biggest applause when he said, "You and I are going to make the words `Made in USA' the world standard of excellence once again."
Before the rally, Daniel Bigger of Roanoke, United We Stand America's 6th District coordinator, said he would be happy if 2,000 people showed up.
Plans were made for Perot to speak to any overflow crowd in the courtyard outside the civic center but the rain wiped those out.
The Civic Center provided security for Perot and there wasn't evidence of any special security arrangements. "The difference is everyone loves Ross," Bigger said.
Bigger, who works as a business consultant, said he's been a Perot supporter since he saw his interview last year with Larry King on Cable News Network. "I said here's a man who tells the truth; I can support that."
by CNB