THIRD-PARTY STRENGTH OF PEROT MADE FOR INTERESTING STATISTICS

If you win by one point in athletics it's still a victory ... and the same for political elections. However the third party strength of ROSS PEROT in this presidential election created some interesting statistics.

President elect BILL CLINTON received over 50% of the vote in only one state ... Arkansas (where 47% of the votes went for Bush or Perot) and the District of Columbia with 86% of the vote (no comment).

Clinton's winning margin in 11 states was 50,000 votes or less ... including 5 states with a vote spread (in each state) of under 30,000 (a switch of only 15,000 votes or less per state would have switched those states to Bush.)

57% of the people voting Tuesday voted for someone other than Clinton who was elected with a minority vote of only 43%. Bush apparently did a good job of telling people why they shouldn't vote for Clinton ... but a poor job of selling people on voting for him.

Advertising Age credits Perot with the most memorable ads and "proving that simple, straight forward ads will hold the public's attention". I agree ... I felt people were starving for facts during the campaign.

Perot's support was broad based as he received over 20% of the popular vote in 30 states and averaged 19% or one half of Bush's final vote total.

Did Perot take votes from Bush or Clinton? I don't think we'll really ever know.

The pre-election polls? They were basically proven right. This lends pause to reflect on the closing of the spread to 2% (CNN) on Thursday prior to President Bush's unfortunate use of the word "Bozos" and the "politically timed" Lawrence Walsh indictment of Casper Weinberger.

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"For all his support at home, Mr. Clinton faces a deeply suspicious world that regards him as untested in international affairs and an unlikely leader of the U.S. at a time when it is the lone super-power.

`Clinton ran an impressive campaign and seemed to grow in stature, but we always look on your politics as a kind of theatrical experience, a huge bun fight,' says Lawrence Goldman, an Oxford historian and analyst of American political trends. `But governing is different from campaigning, and it's the governing that is the question, especially since the problems are so great.'" W.S.J.

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Incidentally the networks and most politicians had reliable exit poll data by mid afternoon that showed Governor Clinton would win by an "ELECTORAL LANDSLIDE".

The networks--hemmed in by their own 1985 agreement to hold off declaring a winner until the state's polls were closed--were unable to tell viewers unti1 10:47 p.m. EST.

They're "ticked off" because Ross Perot told viewers that Clinton had won before the networks could.

This also illustrates the hypocrisy of the alleged experts who were making projections on an outcome THEY already knew...but few viewers did.

The New President's Promises

A sampling of campaign pledges by Bill Clinton on key topics

"This country desperately needs a jobs program, and my first priority would be to pass a jobs program, to introduce it on the first day I was inaugurated."

--Presidential debate,

St. Louis, Mo. Oct. 11, 1992

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"We will lower the tax burden on middle-class Americans by asking the very wealthy to pay their fair share. Middle class taxpayers will have a choice between a children's tax credit or a significant reduction in their income tax rate."

--Putting People First"

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"Now I'll tell you this: I will not raise taxes on the middle class to pay for these programs."

--Presidential debate,

East Lansing, Mich., Oct. 19, 1992

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"I would want the first judge I appointed to believe in the right to privacy and the right to choose."

--Interview on PBS-TV,

July 7, 1992

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"I have recommended that we eliminate by attrition, not by firing anybody but by attrition, 100,000 people from the federal work force over the next couple of years."

--Conference of Mayors,

Houston, June 22, 1992

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"For the kids who don't want to go to college, we'll restore the dignity of blue collar work by guaranteeing an apprenticeship program to every non-college bound student in the United States of America."

--United Auto workers Convention,

San Diego, June 15, 1992

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After two years on welfare "those who can work will have to go to work, either by taking a job in the private sector or through community service."

--"Putting People First"

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"We'll pass a national bottle bill to encourage recycling by creating small deposits on all glass and plastic bottles."

--Drexel University

Philadelphia, April 22, 1992

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"We'll accelerate our progress toward more fuel-efficient cars,and seek to raise the average goal for automakers to 45 miles per gallon."

--Drexel University,

Philadelphia, April 22, 1992

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"I will elevate economics in foreign policy; create an Economic Security Council, similar to the National Security Council."

--Los Angeles

World Affairs Council

August 13, 1992

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"In Europe, we must maintain our ties to NATO even as the Europeans play a stronger role both within NATO and in the evolution of future security arrangements for the continent."

--Foreign Policy Association,

New York, April 1, 1992

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"I support the peace talks that are underway (in the Middle East), and, if elected, I will continue without interruption America's role in them."

--Campaign speech,

Milwaukee, October 1, 1992

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"We will link China's trading privileges to its human rights record and its conduct on trade and weapons sales."

--Los Angeles

World Affairs Council,

August 13, 1992

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"I reiterated my strong support, in a bipartisan fashion, for U.S. assistance to Russia as the reforms proceed."

--Statement after meeting

Boris Yeltsin,

June 18, 1992

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"We should pay up--and pay up now--the past dues we owe to the U.N."

--Foreign Policy Association,

New York, April 1, 1992

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"With the dwindling Soviet threat, we can cut defense spending by over a third by 1997."

--Georgetown University,

Nov. 20, 1991

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"We can pledge right now that for every dollar we reduce the defense budget on research and development, we'll increase the civilian R&D budget by the same amount."

--Georgetown University,

Nov. 20, 1991

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As soon as the Pentagon issued a study...which said that there was no basis in national security for discriminating based on the sexual orientation of Americans who wish to serve in the military. I said I would act on the study."

--Palace Theater,

Los Angeles, May 18, 1992

Wall Street Journal

11/05/92