Saturday, September 21, 1996

After Debate Setback, Perot Reshapes Campaign Strategy

By KATIE FAIRBANK
Associated Press

DALLAS - Locked out of the debates and denied prime TV time for his infomercials, Ross Perot is reworking his campaign strategy to take advantage of free air time and reinforce his arguments against the two-party system.

"If I can't get on television, I can't get the message out," the Reform Party nominee said Friday in back-to-back morning TV interviews that signaled the start of his stepped up free-media push. He also planned to appear on a round of Sunday morning talk shows.

Perot can certainly use the free TV time, given indications of a slow start to his fund-raising from the public. Campaign finance reports filed Friday show Perot raised just $74,000 in contributions in the two weeks after launching his campaign in August, hardly an impressive outpouring of support.

Another element of Perot's strategy is to use the Commission on Presidential Debates' recommendation that he be excluded from the debates to bolster his contention that the two-party system is closed and needs a shakeup.

"We have huge problems we have to deal with, face and solve," Perot said on NBC's "Today" show. "And the two parties can't touch them because they created these problems."

Perot filed a complaint on Friday with the Federal Election Commission alleging that the bipartisan debate commission illegally endorses or contributes to political candidates or parties and should not be allowed to host the debates.

His campaign also plans to file suit Monday seeking an injunction to halt any presidential debates planned by the commission.

Running mate Pat Choate echoed Perot's complaints on Friday in an appearance on CNN's "Talk Back Live," and pointed blame at Bob Dole, who supported the commission's recommendation to exclude third-party candidates.

"We're asking the American people to contact Bob Dole, and just simply say, 'Bob Dole, if you won't play by the rules, if you will not let Ross Perot in the debates, we're not even going to consider voting for you," Choate said.

Clinton, for his part, has said he would welcome Perot in the debates.

Perot himself challenged Dole to turn up for a debate in St. Louis on Wednesday, where Dole will be campaigning anyway - without any expectation the GOP candidate would accept.

"No way he's going to show up and debate me, because he has been part and parcel of creating the problems that exist," Perot said on ABC's "Good Morning America."

Clinton and Dole campaign officials were scheduled to resume negotiations Saturday on the timing, format and number of debates.

A Clinton campaign official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Clinton may consider seeking another debate sponsor, or even debate Perot separately, although that talk could be political maneuvering.

Perot found an ally on the debate matter Friday in Jesse Jackson, who released a statement calling the commission's move an "establishment decision" that has "restricted the choice of the voters."
Choate said if Perot can't get into the debates, the campaign still will get its message out, pushing the networks to sell time immediately after the debates.

"We'll give our answers and we'll promote it very heavily," he said.

"People will want to hear what we have to say, I think they're making a tactical mistake."

The campaign has had difficulty buying the prime TV time it wants as the network promote their fall schedules, with Choate complaining the networks were "censoring the Reform Party and its capacity to work and talk with you about the important issues of our time."

ABC spokeswoman Janice Gretemeyer responded: "Accordingly to federal law, we have to give him federal access and we feel we have complied."

Perot's campaign coordinator, Russ Verney, said the campaign is beginning to look at buying local television time.

So far this campaign, Perot has had five 30-minute infomercials, all with lower ratings than the 15 broadcasts he ran as an independent candidate in 1992.

He has purchased two more half-hour broadcasts on ABC, which will air Oct. 6 and Oct. 20 opposite "Sixty Minutes," a hard time slot in which to compete for viewers.

"It's just the worst in the world," said Perot spokeswoman Sharon Holman, who said Perot will be appearing publicly more frequently in October. So far, he has averaged only one speaking engagement each week.

Perot spent about $420,000 to pay for his first two infomercials, according to a financial report filed by the Perot '96 campaign committee. The cost of the other three broadcasts was not released.

The broadcasts were nearly half of the $978,000 the campaign spent in August, Verney said.
The campaign has qualified for $29.13 million in federal funds, based on the Perot garnering 19 percent of the popular vote in 1992 as an independent candidate.

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