Texas billionaire Ross Perot has yet to become a full-scale candidate for president, but the fresh faces and burgeoning activity at his headquarters here suggest that will change in a matter of weeks.
"We are moving from a petition drive to a national campaign," says Michael McGinty, who made a delivery to Perot's real estate office five weeks ago and stayed on to become a full-time volunteer.Perot steadfastly insists that before deciding on a race for the White House as an independent candidate he is waiting to see whether his supporters will put him on the ballot in all 50 states, or nearly all.
But all the signs around his bustling headquarters, where there are now about 1,000 volunteers, indicate that he has no intention of walking away from the challenge.
Former President Gerald Ford said Thursday he is not surprised Perot is doing so well in the polls because "there's a lot of political unrest in the country and he's the beneficiary of it."
"What worries me is that he will so muddy the election we will have no president elected on Nov. 3 and we would have the House of Representatives, 435 politicians, deciding who will be the next president rather than the people," Ford said on ABC's "Good Morning America."
Less than three weeks after opening spacious new quarters, many of the volunteers who began staffing Perot's toll-free hotline in early March are moving on to new assignments.
A second phone bank now canvasses groups and, potentially, the voters themselves. Precincts in some states are being targeted for get-out-the-vote drives. The campaign is planning a Perot-gram questionnaire that volunteers say will be flowing to the grassroots this summer.
The dizzying pace is forcing volunteers to take a crash course on becoming political pros. "It's like driving down the highway at 90 mph while still learning to drive," says volunteer Jim Bracey.
Meanwhile, former President Jimmy Carter had sharp words Wednesday for Perot, saying the Texan "can't hide all the way" through the election and suggesting Perot might be dodging stands because he's "ashamed" of his positions.
"I really look on Ross Perot right now as kind of anybody but the above," Carter said.
With President Bush and Democratic front-runner Bill Clinton now assured a fall matchup, Carter said, Perot "has blossomed forth . . . as a symbol of disaffection with politics."