Perot Calls Dole Plea 'Weird,' Won't Quit Race

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, Oct. 24) -- Echoing the judgments of many political observers, Reform Party nominee Ross Perot today called Bob Dole's efforts to get him to drop out of the race "weird and totally inconsequential." (160K WAV sound)

Perot, speaking at the National Press Club in Washington, said he has no intention of quitting the race. "Am I in this for the long haul? Yes. Do I intend to campaign to the bitter end? Yes." (64K WAV sound)

"I've given five years of my life to this. I have worked night and day. And I do it for one reason, and that is concern for the future of this wonderful country," Perot said.

Dole sent campaign manager Scott Reed to Dallas Wednesday to try to convince Perot to drop out and endorse Dole instead. The dramatic move caught the political establishment by surprise, including many on Dole's staff.

Perot declined to give any details of conversations he had with Dole or his staff. "When people ask me to have private conversations, I honor their commitment," he said. "I would say that for anything you want to know about this, talk to the Dole group. They're the ones that talk."

Perot spent most of the speech detailing the nation's economic ills. "But isn't it fascinating that day after day, month after month, I talk about this, and it gets very little attention?" he asked. "But if something weird and totally inconsequential pops up like this thing yesterday, that is really big news. Now, I would think the future of our country and the financial condition of our country would be news."

Perot also blistered President Bill Clinton for "huge moral, ethical and criminal problems" that could prove a legal morass in a second term.

Perot cited a $20,000 contribution that the Democrats accepted from convicted drug dealer Jorge Cabrera, then returned. "If I steal your car and give it back, does that make me innocent?" Perot asked.

He also criticized Clinton for not ruling out pardons to former partners convicted of Whitewater-related crimes.

Said Perot: "The president has refused to say whether or not he will pardon his friends and business associates who are now in jail after the election. And nobody seems to be upset about that. Is this what the rights of the president to pardon a convict are all about, take care of your buddies and hope they don't talk?

"We are headed toward a second Watergate with all this stuff going on, and a constitutional crisis in 1997," Perot said. "Just remember where you heard it and put it in the bank."

Perot Calls Dole Plea 'Weird,' Won't Quit Race

Related Stories: