(Ross Perot with purported Adviser)
When I heard the news today that Dell was buying Perot Systems for a reported $3billion, I started to realize we actually hadn't heard anything from Ross Perot lately.
Surely, the 1992 election and Perot's on-again/off-again/on-again candidacy left a lot of people baffled. When he restated his entry into the race, a month before the election - it not only caught people off-guard, it left them scratching their heads, as was the case with this announcement and press conference from October 1, 1992. Certainly his short fuse made for some interesting moments.
Reporter: “Ten weeks ago you said you were quitting the race because you didn’t want to be a spoiler and you didn’t want to be disruptive. Now you say you’re back to win this thing. . . “
Perot: “Yes.”
Reporter: “Isn’t your strategy to disrupt George Bush’s vote in a number of key states, including this one, Texas?”
Perot: Absolutely not. Absolutely not. That’s press myth number six hundred and fifteen. . . .
(Crowd noise)
Perot:”WAIT JUST A MINUTE!!! Wait a minute - let me finish! Absolutely not. Absolutely not. Now, I love you guys. He has called me every name in the book. All I’ve ever said ‘fine man, fine family’, the only thing I’ve ever criticized is his mistakes in office. That’s it. We’re talkin’ about performance here, not personality. See, I’m everything from a monster to a crazy comin’ from them, right? Nobody ever says, ‘boy, you must really dislike that guy, because you keep sayin’ those things. I show up here and you say I don’t like George Bush. When you create these fairy tales and pass ‘em on, every now and then get together some time in the evening and say ‘ is there any basis for this stuff?’ No. There’s no basis for that. I wouldn’t spend ten minutes because of personal dislike. I certainly wouldn’t spend the money I’m having to spend on this. I’m doing it for the reasons I gave in the speech – very simple.”
It makes you wonder about the constantly changing landscape of politics. Whether Perot will make another appearance remains to be seen.
His short fuse was kind of enjoyable though . . .
