
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, August 12, 1995                   TAG: 9508140069
SECTION: NATL/INTL                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: DALLAS                                 LENGTH: Medium

PEROT: STOP ARGUING - GET TO WORK

After insisting he had no plans to run for president again, Ross Perot played gracious host Friday as a bipartisan parade of politicians competed for the support of his cantankerous, independent-minded followers.

The courting began before noon and continued deep into the night, as Democratic and Republican leaders tried to convince members of Perot's United We Stand America organization of their commitment to balancing the budget and to campaign and political reforms.

Trying to set the tone for the speech-a-thon, Perot said he and his backers were ``sick and tired of the bickering, the infighting and all that stuff.'' For the most part the politicians obliged and kept their remarks polite, but there were some partisan swipes.

Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd, the Democratic National Committee general chairman, accused Republicans of selling out to big donors. ``Those who write the checks now expect to write the laws as well,'' Dodd said, saying food safety and pollution standards were at risk. ``I don't believe that is the kind of change Americans voted for.''

Firing back, Republican National Committee Chairman Haley Barbour said President Clinton had proved that ``trying to make everybody happy is a road map to failure. Government by poll is the enemy of leadership.''

The audience for the jockeying - Perot critics in both parties called it pandering - was about 3,000 people in the Dallas convention center. Perot had predicted some 8,000 members of his group would attend, and the turnout would have been even smaller were it not for students and other groups Perot allowed in for free.

Still, the modest turnout didn't discourage the politicians from paying homage to Perot and his followers.

``The independent movement you launched three years ago is a big part of the change that is shaking Washington like nothing I have ever seen,'' said House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas.

Although Perot's negatives have soared since he won 19 percent of the popular vote in his 1992 independent presidential race, several polls released this week suggest he would do about as well in a three-way race now.

Most analysts are skeptical those numbers would hold through another campaign, but they provide stark evidence of continued disenchantment with the political parties.

There was evidence in the audience. Even as they settled in to be courted, many United We Stand members predicted they would not be satisfied. Many wore ``Third Party Now'' buttons as a sign of their determination to create one, with or without Perot's help.

Keywords:
POLITICS

by CNB