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Posted on 06/04/2011 12:25:53 PM PDT by rface
Dare I say it? I voted for Ross Perot…..twice……I was a Tea Partier Then, and I am a Tea Partier now.
Back in the older days, I wasn’t going to vote for the DC Establishment Candidate (first GHW Bush then Dole), I was going to vote for the candidate that was going to help make America Fiscally healthy…..and the people of America were going to help make America Morally Healthy.
I was an enthusiastic supporter of Perot, and I know now that this is the same type of enthusiasm that is driving the Tea Party today. A weird fact…..many Tea Partiers, who are old enough, have been asked by me if they voted for Perot back in the days of Papa Bush v Clinton v Perot….then Bob Dole v Clinton v Perot…..and a surprising number of them quickly, and without embarrassment say, “Yes – I voted for Ross Perot”
There were few days left. Election Day loomed on the horizon. GW Bush was running the 1st time, against Gore, and the rac was neck and neck. One of the big questions, was “since Perot is not running, Who is Perot going to publicly support? If I remember right, Perot was doing a Larry King interview….and there where many minds (including Rush Limbaugh) convinced that Perot was going to endorse Gore. I would have been floored if he actually had endorsed Gore…..BUT , Perot enthusiastically endorsed GW Bush.
As a former Perot supporter and two-time voter, I was expecting Perot (NOT hoping) that Perot would indeed endorse GW Bush. Limbaugh was shocked! I tell you he was SHOCKED!!!. Limbaugh was then, an “Inside-the-beltway, Official GOP insider”
Throughout the Clinton years Limbaugh et al. hammer the Perot voters for giving America 8 years of Clinton and Lewinski and Gore and all the messes that came with those times. These were the days that Limbaugh openly carried the “establishment GOP water” and fed it to his listeners through a siphon hose…. Since those days, and since Limbaugh’s hearing loss and drug problems, he has PUBLICLY STATED that he is no longer going to be carrying the GOP water……so now Limbaugh openly says that the GOP establishment wants “we the people” to vote for the GOP Political Insiders…..I say screw that! I agree with Limbaugh - SCREW the DC Insiders! They care about POWER not America.
I will not vote for a Bob Dole – or a McCain or any wishy-washy republican. I want a candidate with courage and a vision and a plan to make and keep America great.
There are several candidates that I might consider later on, but I am now recalling the days before the Tea Party, when the Perot Tea Partiers pushed back against the DC Insider elites.
I was a Tea Partier then and I am a Tea Partier now. I voted for Ross Perot.
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and that is the reason why Obama is our president.
I honestly would like you to answer those questions.
Wish you would address the degree of risk a third party poses today for the re-election of Obama. All will agree it is the brave and principled thing to do, but third party has failed every time it’s tried, as a sister to party suicide and no one has figured out to make it work.
I can almost understand the first Perot vote but the 2nd is unforgivable.
But when Perot endorsed Democrat Ann (Ma) Richards for Texas Governor, That solidified what I came to understand that Perot is no more than a Bush hating RINO.
so Rita is happy to let the DC Beltwayers pick the candidate that Rita will vote for.....
I am a tea party guy now, but never enchantd by Perot for one second. Not fooled by Trump for one second either. I don’t find much common ground between Perot and the tea party philosophically other than unhappiness with Washington. Perot’s prescriptions (and Trumps) are not that of limited government. They are both businessmen in bed with big government.
you are right Gumption - Bob Dole was an inspiration! Sure, he was a war hero - but, again, that, and the fact that the DCers felt that it was Dole’s “turn to run” - left many uninspired Tea Partiers looking elsewhere.
you are right - I am not fooled by Trump - and I was never fooled by Perot.
I know. I lost my mind, crossed over in an open primary to keep Hillary from the ‘08 nomination! (Yes, you know what that means.) Then when the general rolled around, thankfully, Bob Barr was on the ballot. I was not going to participate in electing McCain the Maverick.
I lost everywhere I went, except for Hillary who did not win that primary, but look at who’s sitting in the WH.
Leaves me very burned by trying to be a heroic purist. I know that purity is a dirty word this time around. We just need to study November, 2010. We did it right in ‘10. :)
I’m thinking that admitting to have voted for Ross Perot is akin to someone from the late 1960’s admitting that they once wore bellbottoms.
An admission of having voted for Ross Perot “twice”, might be like retaining a photo of oneself wearing bellbottoms with a bloused sleeve shirt with a wide open collar.
Pelosi-Paul 2012......
I guess we will both be hoping that they don't stick a Bob Dole or a McCain on the GOP ballot ..... because I wouldn't want you to be voting for anything other than American Exceptionalism.
Huh?
What’s with your hysteria? I asked a civil question given your experience with Perot! If that’s over your head just say so, but you don’t need to burn the inquisitive at the stake of the RINOs. Go set your own hair on fire and leave mine alone.
Get ready! Here come the “it gave Clinton the election” crowd.
I voted for McCain. I now say voting for Reagan and Perot are the only votes I’m proud of.
You said: “I want a candidate with courage and a vision and a plan to make and keep America great.”
With all due respect, that was not Perot. He had no vision other than to “take a look under the hood — see what was wrong - and fix it.” His economic plan was half vague and half Contract with America - yet he clearly hated Republicans more than Democrats for personal reasons. He hired a bunch of moderate Republican consultants to run his “Reform” Party. And his newbie Reform Party folks quickly demonstrated that the new party has the same problems as the old parties: imperfect people guarding their little turf.
I don’t want to get in a food fight, but I would say you did not exactly read Perot correctly.
Good comeback. ;>)
I hope that you were pro-abortion, and wanted to go door to door to confiscate guns, because your Perot nut case did.
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