ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, October 1, 1996 TAG: 9610010065
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG
SOURCE: ROBERT LITTLE STAFF WRITER
PAT CHOATE opened a Perot for President office in Newport News and stumped for votes at The College of William and Mary.
Vice-presidential candidate Pat Choate had no entourage, no network following, no security sweeps by the Secret Service. He simply had a scheduling guy, a car phone and a lock on what he kept calling the most critical issue facing the nation today.
The fundamental goal of his and Ross Perot's bid for the White House: Changing the way political campaigns are financed, Choate said during a stump through the Peninsula Monday.
Strip wealthy businessmen and corporate conglomerates of their influence over American politics and lawmakers will be free to finally resolve those matters, said Choate, Perot's vice presidential pick.
America's system of campaign finance is an issue the traditional parties won't address because they're too beholden to the political gift-givers, he said.
But it's also his and Perot's primary obstacle to political legitimacy, and an issue third-party organizers hope will energize the not-like-them theme of the Reform Party.
"Campaign finance reform goes to the core of everything else in politics. It illustrates the arrogance and corruption of our system and shows why that system is incapable of addressing the matters of most importance to people," the 55-year-old economist said during a distinctly low-budget tour Monday.
"It is at the heart of the central issue of our time - do you like Washington the way it is or not?"
Cutting corporate sponsorship out of American political campaigns seems like an easy promise for a candidate with Perot's multibillions at the ready. Even a group of Hampton Roads Academy high schoolers pointed that out to him.
In fact, Choate doesn't deny that Perot's wealth - which afforded him high visibility in 1992 - has given his campaign a viability it would not otherwise enjoy. Now, because Perot is taking federal matching funds, he's limited to how much personal money he can invest in the campaign.
"Money decides who runs. Money decides who wins. Money decides what they do once they get in office," he said. "But once we win by their rules, we can change the rules. And with the corruption lifted, the president and the Congress can start dealing with the issues that are important to us, not just their contributors."
A Washington economist and radio broadcaster, Choate made about six stops on the Peninsula Monday, opening a Perot for President office in Newport News before visiting high schoolers and a modest crowd at The College of William and Mary. He plans to travel the country until the Nov. 5 election.
With polls showing Perot's campaign trailing - well below his 1992 performance of 19 percent of the vote and behind Democrat Bill Clinton and Republican Bob Dole - Choate said he was focusing on the first presidential debate this Sunday - "When this year's campaign really begins," he said.
A federal judge in Washington is expected to rule today whether the commission organizing this year's presidential debates must allow Perot to participate.
The Reform Party campaign has about $25 million available for advertising in the election's final weeks, much of it federal funds for which Perot qualified because of his 19 percent showing against Clinton and George Bush.
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines KEYWORDS: POLITICS PRESIDENTby CNB