Centerfield

Perot Pops Up

Nathan Newman sees the Perot factor returning

Perot opened up a breech in GOP voting in a period of fears over mounting deficits and lost jobs-- sound familiar? Perot himself is making noises about getting back into the political fray, but the Dems are much better positioned this time to attract these voters. Unlike the almost pure free trader Clinton, the present candidates range from hard core "fair trade" legislators like Gephardt and Kucinich to just tough pro-labor politicians like Dean, Edwards and Kerry.

According to Salon, Perot wants to get back in the saddle.

Is Ross Perot plotting a return to the national stage in time for the 2004 elections? Judging from a well-written 95-page book proposal making its way through the New York publishing circuit, a copy of which arrived unbidden in my e-mail, the crazy aunt in the basement wants to sing again.

I myself participated in the campaign of Perot 1A, by which I mean, the first incarnation of the Perot campaign in 1992, before he dropped out and dropped back in again, showing what an eccentric he is.

I was in Hoboken, New Jersey back then, and got to meet some really interesting, smart people who'd been politically disengaged up till then, sick of both parties really, and inspired by a centrist candidate who was both patriotic and able to reach out to the common man and woman. I am still grateful to Perot for placing the deficit squarely on the nations agenda.

The energy I'm seeing around the movement to Draft Wesley Clark is reminding me of that initial Perot phase. Clark is a bit of a maverick too, without, one hopes, crossing over into eccentricity. I assume that he wouldn't have been given command of NATO without having demonstrated solidity to go along with brilliance.

Posted by Blogadmin at August 28, 2003 05:35 PM