Independent Party Runs

[Chao]

Recently I was looking up older presidential debates, which happen to be done much more objectively than the current ones by the way, (seriously, the difference in atmosphere between 1992 and now is just weird) and I did some research on Perot's campaign. At one point he was LEADING in the polls over Clinton and Bush for the popular vote, and ended up with 19%, which is a huge amount for someone not affiliated with either party when I compare it to parties like the Libertarians.

So...a few questions, is running as an independent much easier than running as a third party candidate? I've heard Ron Paul himself say how biased our system is against 3rd parties.

How much money did Ross Perot end up spending on his campaign?

Did he have a real shot at winning (at least the popular vote) before he oddly dropped out and then came back?

Why did he win 19% of the popular vote but none of the Electoral College?

Any help is appreciated.

[Mr. Coolidge]

Bump. Just interested as well.

I've heard that Perot suddenly dropped out because someone had made threats on his life and his family members' lives. You've probably heard that story too, but just in case, that's what some people say.

I wasn't old enough to understand the campaign or anything at that time, so I'm waiting for someone who lived through it to give us the scoop.

[Chao]

Bump. Just interested as well.

I've heard that Perot suddenly dropped out because someone had made threats on his life and his family members' lives. You've probably heard that story too, but just in case, that's what some people say.

I wasn't old enough to understand the campaign or anything at that time, so I'm waiting for someone who lived through it to give us the scoop.

I read the threats thing on Wikipedia, I believe, and I watched the intro of the debates on youtube. Pretty cool to see three people on the stage in the actual GE discussions as opposed to two. Anyone outside the two main parties getting that much attention is by itself enough to attract my attention, but the fact that he actually had a decent platform regarding NAFTA got me even more interested.

[Richie]

I was only three or four when Perot ran, so I don't know much about him. What I do know is that he didn't run as an independent. He ran as the nominee of the Reform Party.