No Party For Backers Of Perot United We Stand Idaho Members Happy Without Official Ballot Status

The disaffected Idaho voters who coalesced under the banner of Texas billionaire H. Ross Perot in 1992 have decided against turning their chapter of United We Stand America into a formal political party.

“The organization was having too great an effect as representatives of the 20 percent swing vote in America to change the course,” Idaho Executive Director Platt Thompson said in a statement issued on Friday.

The Libertarian Party already has ballot status in Idaho with the Democrats and Republicans, but it has never had the kind of influence on state politics the way United We Stand America seems to have had in the past two elections.

While dissatisfaction with existing political leaders remains high, Thompson said the organization’s members were increasingly optimistic that change is beginning, at least in part because of the issues they have pushed to the center of the public debate.

Five of the dozen national issues United We Stand America has as priorities - a balanced budget, term limits, congressional accountability, welfare reform and the line-item veto - were included in the Republican “Contract With America.”

“Three short years ago the debt and the deficit really were the crazy aunt in the basement,” Gary Allen said. “Today, the political debate of the decade rages in both the House and Senate as they work toward a balanced budget. We are largely responsible for that.”

Thompson met earlier this week with several dozen United We Stand America stalwarts in Boise about forming a new party and had discussed the issue with supporters elsewhere in the state in recent weeks.

He said the Idaho branch of United We Stand America will continue to stress civic responsibility and public awareness of the issues while doing everything possible to make elected officials from both major parties accountable for their actions.

Considering the success so far on issues like the budget and the North American Free Trade Agreement, Bob Walker said there is “no reason why we cannot continue to bring other such issues to the political forefront.”