Editing Ross Perot (section)

=== {{Anchor|1992_campaign}}1992 presidential campaign ===
{{Main|Ross Perot 1992 presidential campaign}}
[[File:Third debate 3267.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Perot meets [[Bill Clinton]] and [[George H. W. Bush]] at the third presidential debate at [[Michigan State University]], October 19, 1992.]]
On February 20, 1992, Perot appeared on [[CNN]]'s ''[[Larry King Live]]'' and announced his intention to run as an independent if his supporters could get his name on the ballot in all 50 states. With such declared policies as balancing the [[Balanced budget amendment|federal budget]], favoring certain types of gun control, ending the outsourcing of jobs and enacting [[e-democracy|electronic direct democracy]] via "electronic [[town meeting|town halls]]", he became a potential candidate and soon polled roughly even with the two major-party candidates.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://people-press.org/report/19920616/year-of-the-outsider |title= Year of the Outsider |website=Pew Research Center |date=June 16, 1992 |access-date=October 5, 2010}}</ref>

Perot denounced Congress for its inaction in a speech at the [[National Press Club (United States)|National Press Club]] in Washington, D.C., on March 18, 1992; he said:
{{Blockquote | style=font-size:100% |This city has become a town filled with [[sound bite]]s, [[shell game]]s, handlers, media stuntmen who posture, create images, talk, shoot off [[Roman candle (firework)|Roman candles]], but don't ever accomplish anything. We need deeds, not words, in this city.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/rossperotspeakso00pero|url-access=registration|title=Ross Perot Speaks Out: Issue by Issue, what He Says about Our Nation : Its Problems and Its Promise|last1=Perot|first1=Ross|date=1992|publisher=Prima Pub.|isbn=978-1-55958-274-2|language=en|page=[https://archive.org/details/rossperotspeakso00pero/page/55 55]}}</ref>}}

Perot's candidacy received increasing media attention when the competitive phase of the primary season ended for the two major parties. With the insurgent candidacies of Republican [[Pat Buchanan]] and Democrat [[Jerry Brown]] winding down, Perot was the natural beneficiary of [[populism|populist]] resentment toward establishment politicians. On May 25, 1992, he was featured on the cover of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' with the title "Waiting for Perot", an allusion to [[Samuel Beckett]]'s play ''[[Waiting for Godot]]''.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19920525,00.html |website=TIME Archives |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060627205758/http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19920525,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 27, 2006 |title=''Time'' magazine cover: H. Ross Perot|date=May 25, 1992|access-date=May 22, 2010}}</ref>

Several months before the Democratic and Republican conventions, Perot filled the vacuum of election news, as his supporters began petition drives to get him on the ballot in all 50 states. This sense of momentum was reinforced when Perot employed two savvy campaign managers in Democrat [[Hamilton Jordan]] and Republican [[Ed Rollins]]. While Perot was pondering whether to run for office, his supporters established a campaign organization [[United We Stand America]]. Perot was late in making formal policy proposals, but most of what he did call for was intended to reduce the deficit, such as a [[fuel tax]] increase and cutbacks to [[Social Security (United States)|Social Security]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1992-10-14-9210140963-story.html |date=October 14, 1992|title=Ross Perots' plan to tax gasoline primes the pump |author=Mike Royko |work=[[Orlando Sentinel]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220513194033/https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1992-10-14-9210140963-story.html |archive-date= May 13, 2022 }}</ref>  In June, Perot led a [[Gallup poll]] with 39% of the vote.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/11/us/the-1992-campaign-on-the-trail-poll-gives-perot-a-clear-lead.html |url-access=subscription |title=The 1992 Campaign: On the Trail – Poll Gives Perot a Clear Lead|date=June 11, 1992|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=October 24, 2016}}</ref>

In July, the Perot campaign fell into disarray and his polls fell sharply.  The [[1992 Democratic National Convention]] was held on Monday, July 13 through Thursday, July 16, during which time there was increased media coverage of the general election. ''[[The Milwaukee Sentinel]]'' reported that Perot's campaign managers were becoming increasingly disillusioned by Perot's unwillingness to follow their advice to be more specific on issues,<ref name="milwaukee" /> and his need to be in full control of operations.<ref name="milwaukee">{{Cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Jd8VAAAAIBAJ&pg=5420,3383510&dq=ross-perot&hl=en|title=Perot advisers reportedly at odds|date=July 14, 1992|work=[[Milwaukee Journal Sentinel|The Milwaukee Sentinel]]|page=2A|access-date=May 27, 2010}}{{Dead link|date=January 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The ''[[St. Petersburg Times]]'' reported such tactics as forcing volunteers to sign [[loyalty oath]]s.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Perot asks volunteers to sign loyalty oaths|date=July 14, 1992|work=Tampa Bay Times|agency=Associated Press|url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1992/07/14/perot-asks-volunteers-to-sign-loyalty-oaths/}}</ref>  Perot's poll numbers had slipped to 25%, and his advisers warned that if he continued to ignore them, he would fall into single digits. Hamilton Jordan (a high-ranking manager in the Perot campaign) allegedly threatened to quit, but senior campaign officials denied this.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Holmes|first=Steven A.|date=July 14, 1992|title=Perot Adviser Threatens to Quit Over Frustrations With Campaign|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/14/news/opposition-independent-perot-adviser-threatens-quit-over-frustrations-with.html|access-date=October 24, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

On July 15, Ed Rollins resigned after Perot fired advertisement specialist [[Hal Riney]], who had worked with Rollins on the [[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] campaign. Rollins would later claim that a member of the campaign accused him of being a Bush plant with ties to the [[Central Intelligence Agency]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/02/opinion/abroad-at-home-why-perot.html?pagewanted=1|title=Abroad at Home; Why Perot?|last=Lewis|first=Anthony|date=October 2, 1992|work=The New York Times|page=31|access-date=May 27, 2010}}</ref> Amid the chaos, Perot's support fell to 20%.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/16/news/campaign-ross-perot-rollins-quits-perot-s-campaign-asserts-his-advice-was.html|title=Rollins Quits Perot's Campaign; Asserts His Advice Was Ignored|last=Holmes|first=Steven A|date=July 16, 1992|work=The New York Times|page=1|access-date=May 27, 2010}}</ref> The next day, Perot announced on ''Larry King Live'' that he would not seek the presidency. He explained that he did not want the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] to decide the election if the result caused the electoral college to be split. Perot eventually stated the reason was that he received threats that digitally altered photographs would be released by the Bush campaign to sabotage his daughter's wedding.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/26/us/1992-campaign-overview-perot-says-he-quit-july-thwart-gop-dirty-tricks.html|title=The 1992 Campaign: The Overview – Perot Says He Quit in July to Thwart G.O.P. 'Dirty Tricks'|last=Berke|first=Richard L.|date=October 26, 1992|work=The New York Times|access-date=August 27, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Whatever his reasons for withdrawing, his reputation was badly damaged. Many of his supporters felt betrayed, and public opinion polls subsequently showed a largely negative view of Perot that was absent before his decision to end the campaign.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/19/us/1992-campaign-ross-perot-perot-says-he-may-rejoin-race-publicize-his-economic.html|title=The 1992 Campaign: Ross Perot – Perot Says He May Rejoin Race To Publicize His Economic Plan|last=Berke|first=Richard L.|date=September 19, 1992|work=The New York Times|access-date=August 27, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

In September, he qualified for all 50 state ballots. On October 1, he announced his intention to re-enter the presidential race. He campaigned in 16 states and spent an estimated $12.3&nbsp;million of his own money.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Clymer |first=Adam |title=The 1992 Campaign: Perot Gave $12 Million to Aborted Campaign |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 25, 1992 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/08/25/us/the-1992-campaign-ross-perot-perot-gave-12-million-to-aborted-campaign.html}}</ref> Perot employed the innovative strategy of purchasing half-hour blocks of time on major networks for [[infomercial]]-type campaign advertisements; this advertising garnered more viewership than many sitcoms, with one Friday night program in October attracting 10.5&nbsp;million viewers.<ref>{{Cite news |title=The 1992 Campaign: The Media – Perot's 30-Minute TV Ads Defy the Experts, Again |page=A.19 |last=Kolbert |first= Elizabeth |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=October 27, 1992 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/27/nyregion/the-1992-campaign-the-media-perot-s-30-minute-tv-ads-defy-the-experts-again.html}}</ref>

At one point in June, Perot led the polls with 39% (versus 31% for Bush and 25% for Clinton). Just prior to the debates, Perot received 7–9% support in nationwide polls.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/11/us/the-1992-campaign-on-the-trail-poll-gives-perot-a-clear-lead.html|title=The 1992 Campaign: On the Trail – Poll Gives Perot a Clear Lead|date=June 11, 1992|work=The New York Times|access-date=August 27, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The debates likely played a significant role in his ultimate receipt of almost 19% of the popular vote. Although his answers during the debates were often general, Frank Newport of [[Gallup (company)|Gallup]] concluded that Perot "convincingly won the first debate, coming in significantly ahead of both the Democratic challenger Clinton and incumbent President George H.W. Bush".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/13525/What-History-Tells-About-Second-Third-Debates.aspx|title=What History Tells Us About Second and Third Debates|website=Gallup.com|date=October 7, 2004}}</ref> In the debate, he remarked:
{{Blockquote | style=font-size:100% |Keep in mind our Constitution predates the [[Industrial Revolution]]. Our founders did not know about electricity, the train, telephones, radio, television, automobiles, airplanes, rockets, nuclear weapons, satellites, or space exploration. There's a lot they didn't know about. It would be interesting to see what kind of document they'd draft today. Just keeping it frozen in time won't hack it.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Sumner |first=Mark |url=http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/4/19/720644/-All-This-Has-Happened-Before |title=All This Has Happened Before |work=Daily Kos |date=April 19, 2009 |access-date=June 13, 2010}}</ref>}}

In the [[1992 United States presidential election|1992 election]], he received 18.9% of the popular vote, about 19,741,065 votes, but no [[United States Electoral College|electoral college]] votes, making him the most successful non-major-party presidential candidate in terms of share of the popular vote since [[Theodore Roosevelt]] in the [[1912 United States presidential election|1912 election]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.270towin.com/1912_Election/ |title=Presidential Election of 1912 |work=270towin.com |access-date=April 1, 2016}}</ref> Unlike Perot, however, multiple third-party candidates since Roosevelt had won electoral college votes: [[Robert M. La Follette|Robert La Follette]] in 1924, [[Strom Thurmond]] in 1948, and [[George Wallace]] in 1968. Compared with Thurmond and Wallace, who polled very strongly in a small number of states, Perot's vote was more evenly spread across the country. Perot managed to finish second in two states: in [[1992 United States presidential election in Maine|Maine]], Perot received 30.44% of the vote—ahead of part-time resident Bush's 30.39% (Clinton won Maine with 38.77%); and in [[1992 United States presidential election in Utah|Utah]], Perot received 27.34% of the vote—ahead of Clinton's 24.65% (Bush won Utah with 43.36%). Although Perot did not win a state, he received a plurality of votes in some counties.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mustreadalaska.com/ross-perot-has-passed-he-placed-3rd-in-alaska-presidential-election-in-1992/|title=Ross Perot, 89, has passed: He placed 3rd in Alaska presidential election in 1992|last=Downing|first=Suzanne|date=July 9, 2019|website=Must Read Alaska|language=en-US|access-date=July 10, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-pol-ca-california-voting-history/|title=After decades of Republican victories, here's how California became a blue state again|last1=Krishnakumar|first1=Priya|last2=Arm|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en|access-date=July 10, 2019|last3=Emamdjomeh|last4=Moore|first4=Maloy|date=October 31, 2016 }}</ref> His popular vote total is still by far the most ever garnered for a non-major-party candidate, almost double the previous record set by Wallace in 1968.

A detailed analysis of voting demographics revealed that Perot's support drew heavily from across the political spectrum, with 20% of his votes coming from self-described [[Modern liberalism in the United States|liberals]], 27% from self-described [[Conservatism in the United States|conservatives]], and 53% coming from self-described moderates. Economically, however, the majority of Perot voters (57%) were middle class, earning between $15,000 and $49,000 annually, with the bulk of the remainder drawing from the upper-middle class (29% earning more than $50,000 annually).<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Politics: Who Cares|author1=Peirce Lewis|author2=Casey McCracken|author3=Roger Hunt|journal=American Demographics|date=October 1994|volume=16|page=23|url=http://www.hks.harvard.edu/case/3pt/perot_vote.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080321084623/http://www.hks.harvard.edu/case/3pt/perot_vote.html|archive-date=March 21, 2008}}</ref> Exit polls also showed that 38% of Perot voters would have otherwise voted for Bush, and 38% would have voted for Clinton.<ref>{{Cite news| url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE0DB1F3FF936A35752C1A964958260 |work=The New York Times |title=The 1992 Election: Disappointment – News Analysis – An Eccentric but No Joke; Perot's Strong Showing Raises Questions On What Might Have Been, and Might Be |first=Steven A. |last=Holmes |date=November 5, 1992 |access-date=May 22, 2010}}</ref> Though there were widespread claims that Perot acted as a "spoiler", post-election analysis suggested that his presence in the race likely did not affect the outcome.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://fivethirtyeight.com/videos/the-ross-perot-myth/|title=The Ross Perot Myth|date=October 6, 2016|website=FiveThirtyEight|language=en-US|access-date=August 27, 2019}}</ref> According to [[Seymour Martin Lipset]], the 1992 election had several unique characteristics. Voters felt that economic conditions were worse than they actually were, which harmed Bush. A strong third-party candidate was a rare event. Liberals launched a backlash against 12 years of a conservative White House. The chief factor was Clinton's uniting his party, and winning over a number of heterogeneous groups.<ref>Seymour Martin Lipset, "The significance of the 1992 election." ''PS: Political Science and Politics'' 26.1 (1993): 7-16 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/419496 online]</ref> In 2016, [[FiveThirtyEight]] described the theory that Perot was a spoiler as "unlikely".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/long-before-trump-there-was-ross-perot/|title=Long Before Trump, There Was Ross Perot|first=Galen|last=Druke|publisher=FiveThirtyEight|date=October 24, 2016|access-date=May 9, 2021}}</ref>

Based on his performance in the popular vote in 1992, Perot was entitled to receive federal election funding for 1996. Perot remained in the public eye after the election and championed opposition to the [[North American Free Trade Agreement]] (NAFTA). During the campaign, he had urged voters to listen for the "[[giant sucking sound]]" of American jobs heading south to Mexico should NAFTA be ratified.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/specials/issues/world/wordepth/0916perot-infomercial.html|title=Perot TV Ad Assails U.S. Trade Policies|website=The New York Times|access-date=July 10, 2019}}</ref>