LOOK IN THE MIRROR: IS PEROT BECOMING GHOST OF ANDREW JACKSON?

His two-hour stint on the "Today" Show revealed as little as he could get away with of his plans for guiding this nation. One questions and answer above all others was intriguing: Who are your heroes? Answer: "my parents." Good enough, as far as that goes; parents take on heroic proportions to many of us. But what about public role models? Which of those men on Mount Rushmore Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln or Teddy Roosevelt? Or perhaps more recent heroes: Franklin Roosevelt, Truman or Eisenhower? If we could only discern the Perot presidential ideal, maybe we could discern more of Perot.

As of now, the leading contender for Perot role model is Andrew Jackson. But which Andrew Jackson? The "glorious" populist, champion of underprivileged whites, hater of money power, "founder" of the New Deal (Professor Arthur Schlesinger Jr.), or Jackson the inflated patriarch, the demagogue, the egalitarian, tyrannical, vengeful, anti-aristocratic (Professor Charles Sellers) or some of both?

Jackson was the first American president to beat the establishment. His power and appeal were clearly outside of the Beltway. He was the first throw-the-rascals out candidate. He was an outsider's outsider with a trip-wire temper.

Old Hickory was a military man who established his own identity in the nation's west. Theretofore, our presidents had all come from Virginia and Massachusetts and the presidency was cozily handed down from retiring president to his hand-picked secretary of state. Perot is a businessman with a naval background who, in his own imagination, commands heroic military-like rescue operations. He is a self-made cowboy who supposedly delivered newspapers on horseback as a kid.

Jackson, like Perot, was suspicious of the Wall Street types of his era. He had lost most of his money in various speculative enterprises, blaming the banks and credit system for his reverses. Perot often talks of the thievery involved in the Savings & Loan scandals. Perot also took a beating on Wall Street and blames other investment houses for conniving to do him in.

Jackson came to Washington with a mission. To the depth of his soul, he believed the government was beset by privileged monied interests determined to make the status quo the hallmark of national policy. He would alter the status quo. He would be the agent of change. In Perot's current terminology. Jackson "cleaned out the stables."

In 1828, when Jackson was convincingly elected president (after having it "stolen" from him in 1824 so many claim), there was pervasive anxiety in America. More and more people felt ignored and left out. Hamiltonian elitism had run its course. Even Thomas Jefferson in his twilight days sensed "a general demoralizaiton of the nation."

One of Jackson's specific targets was the all-powerful Bank of the United States. To him it was a monster designed to crush the humble. What are Perot's specific targets? He poses as a doctor diagnosing all the ailments but offering no cures. He is against most everything in general, but for nothing very specific. Perot's strength is in ambiguity, not clarity. With Andrew Jackson, you knew where he stood. With Ross Perot, you have to guess.