The announcement of Ross Perot's death on Tuesday affected me more than I would have expected. I have paid little attention to the man since he disappeared from politics. As a leader in his Minnesota petition drive, I was deeply disappointed by his failed promises and apparent deception. (Yet, there is a box of Perot T-shirts in this disillusioned supporter's garage.)
With the passing of this bright, energetic man, will the media recognize that Perot's flash-in-the-pan presidential bid paved the way for a Trump presidency?
Most people don't recall that the initial energy behind Perot's drive for president was not about electing him, but about meeting a challenge he made on the "Larry King Live" show: If the people, on their own, placed his name on all 50 state ballots, Perot would run for president.
What followed was an unprecedented and incredibly successful petition drive that proved that the American people can change the face of politics without the backing of an entrenched political machine.
The media, at the time, suggested that Perot was using his vast wealth to fund the petition drive — that it was, in fact, not grassroots at all.
Let me tell you, from personal experience, what really happened.
On a Sunday morning, a few weeks after Perot issued his challenge, Minnesota Public Radio mentioned that there was no Perot petition committee in Minnesota. I had been trying without success to reach Perot since the announcement, so I called MPR, told them I had a committee (myself and two grudging siblings, recruited that morning) and was interviewed on the spot. On Monday morning my phone started ringing and didn't stop for months.
Jeff Solem was organizing also; he reached out to me, and a Minnesota organization was born. We weren't politicians. Most of us were men and women in business. Volunteers showed up, unsolicited. Perot did not fund us. We had no real fundraising mechanism; the money just trickled in. Along with grassroots organizations in all 50 states, we put Perot's name on the ballot for the 1992 presidential election.