I don’t have a problem with your premise until you get to Perot.
He only needed 181 electoral votes, in a three way race.
Huh? You need a majority of the electoral college or else it goes to the House, which votes by state delegation (majority of states needed) among the top 3 candidates. If no electoral college majority for VP the Senate chooses the VP from the top two.
You gotta get a minimum of 270 EVs regardless of the number of candidates in the mix. If Perot got 269 and the other 269 went to Bush Sr. and Bubba, the Democrat Congress would still have seated Bubba even if he got say, 6 EVs (that of Arkansas).