Debate Panel: Perot A Loser, Don’t Invite Him Reform Party Candidate Vows To Sue After Presidential Bid Dealt Major Blow

A bipartisan commission dealt a potentially devastating blow to Ross Perot’s candidacy for president Tuesday, declaring he has no realistic chance of winning the White House and therefore should not participate in the 1996 presidential debates.

Officials of Perot’s Reform Party denounced the declaration by the Commission on Presidential Debates as a “travesty” and said they would file suit in federal court seeking to have the Texas billionaire businessman included in the proposed sessions between President Clinton and GOP nominee Bob Dole.

But legal experts said there was little prospect of success in such a suit, and Perot’s prospects now seem to rest on the continuing negotiations between representatives of Clinton, who wants Perot in the debates, and Dole, who does not. The two sides met for several hours Tuesday and plan to continue their talks today.

The unanimous recommendation by the 10-member debate commission came at an already difficult time for Perot. He has had little success in replicating the broad support he garnered four years ago and has been struggling to lift his campaign from the mid-single digits in the public opinion polls. He also has been complaining of difficulty in buying network television time to air his trademark half-hour infomercials during prime viewing hours.

The bipartisan commission’s recommendation is not binding, but a senior administration official said that while the Clinton camp would still like Perot to participate, it would be difficult to go against the commission’s proposal.

Dole hailed the commission’s declaration, saying, as he arrived in Arizona for a campaign appearance, that the debates “should be one-on-one with Bill Clinton. We’re the only two who have a chance of winning.”

Clinton, campaigning in Michigan, said that he “enjoyed having (Perot) in there in ‘92. I thought he made a valuable contribution.”

“I’m not afraid of any debate,” he added.

Perot’s running mate, Pat Choate, told a news conference in Washington that the commission’s recommendation was a “fraud on the voters” and “demonstrates what’s wrong with Washington today. The corrupt process must be ended.”

Republican strategists believe that because their candidate is trailing in polls, he badly needs one-on-one confrontations with Clinton in the hope that something might happen to shake up the race. Clinton aides believe that, too, and therefore have been in favor of inviting Perot.

For Perot, the debates were critical to his success in 1992, when he ultimately collected nearly 19 percent of the popular vote. Perot participated in each of the three 90-minute long events, often chiding the other candidates for avoiding the big issues such as the budget and trade deficits.

Being excluded from the debates, “is devastating” for Perot, said Larry Sabato, a political science professor at the University of Virginia. “Undoubtedly he’ll get some sympathy points in the polls over the next few days. … But without this opportunity, how is he going to move up?”

In the meantime, Perot aides claim they are having difficulty buying time on evening network television to air more of his half-hour campaign commercials. Perot has aired five half-hour programs on ABC, CBS, NBC and the Fox network. He has hoped to run 15 such programs in all.