Ross Perot was a businessman who twice took a shot at the presidency in the 1990's, in campaigns that were strongly critical of both the Republicans and Democrats. He was a salesman/entrepreneur, while Trump is more of a developer, but their careers aren't that dissimilar. Both were populists who drew their votes from the disaffected, though Trump drew somewhat more from the right, Perot from the center. They were both America-firsters in trade and the economy, and during their campaigns favored increased taxes on the ultra-rich, though Trump has backed away from that. Perot was against the first Iraq war, Trump against the second. Both tended to favor action over words, preferring to speak in simple, even cliched generalities. They both did better live than in print.
Perot drew 19% of the vote in 1992. Does this mean that there is always this populist vote lurking in the American electorate, which can sometimes be tapped into by a single politician, but is uncertain and fluid when applied to the traditional political parties? Or does this mean that there is an increase in such voters since 1992?
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Does this mean that there is always this populist vote lurking in the American electorate, which can sometimes be tapped into by a single politician, but is uncertain and fluid when applied to the traditional political parties?
Maybe.
I voted Third Party in 1980 for the first time in a Presidential election. However, I had previously gone for "none of the above" in my high school's straw poll in 1968. Given the choice between Humphrey, LBJ, McCarthy, RFK, or Nixon, I voted for Harold Stassen. That was the only vote Stassen got. This wasn't from indifference, but from disgust. I had long been very interested in politics.
I was all set to vote for Perot, until he claimed that Bush was planning to disrupt his daughter's wedding. That sounded crazy to me. Years later, an acquaintance told me he had had business dealings with Perot's company. He said that according to employees of Perot's company, Perot really was crazy.
I also voted for Anderson
though Trump drew somewhat more from the right, Perot from the center.
I don't think this is quite true, depending on how one measures and defines. Perot got 19% as an independent, with most registered Reps voting Rep no matter who. Trump didn't even get the 2000 Reform Party nomination -- the further right Buchanan got it.
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/presidential-campaign/256159-a-look-back-at-trumps-first-run
I recall the '92 election and Perot drawing more from the unsatisfied with moderate Bush right, sometimes claiming to be independent, than from moderates, including the center independents.
Trump as Rep got the Rep voters and the unsatisfied with GOPe not-Dem voters. Trump got a few more blacks & Hispanics, so I'd say he was more to the "center".
More importantly, being anti-illegal immigrant doesn't mean you're for smaller gov't, so big-gov't left and small gov't right are not the best axis to discuss this.
This is similar to being pro-life, another issue that has big & small gov't supporters together, either for or against.
Illegal (& legal) immigration and pro-life, pro-family (anti LGBT ideology) cultural issues are not left-right, and are beginning to dominate the differences between Dems & Reps.
" both America-firsters in trade and the economy,"
Yes to some 10-30% American voters in favor of American first populist economic ideas, in an broadly defined way.
I don't think the voting numbers bear this out. Looking at the 2012 and 2016 percentage vote by party affiliation from the Wiki articles on the two elections, Trump did slightly less well with both Republicans (Trump 90, Romney 93) and Independents (Trump 48, Romney 50) than Romney. Crossover voting was essentially identical. 6 percent of Republicans voted for Obama, 7 for Clinton. 7 percent of Democrats voted for Romney though interestingly 9 percent of Democrats voted for Trump.
The big difference in 2016 was that only 89 percent of Democrats voted for Clinton versus 93 for Obama. Also crucial was the increase in voting for third party candidates from 5 percent in 2012 to 10 percent in 2016.
Trump didn't so much win the election as Hillary lost it.
The Wiki articles on 1992 and 1996 has a slightly confusing but interesting breakout of the Clinton/GHWB-Dole/Perot vote in both 1992 and 1996 which tends to support Tom Grey contention that Perot attracted more conservative voters than Trump. Clinton's margin of victory again came because he held on to more Democrats in both elections.
Ross "I'm all ears" Perot tickled the fancy of many conservatives and quite a few independents. Or undecideds. I'm still trying to figure out if I was undecided at that point because if you'd asked me then, I would have answered... liberal. Or Democrat. Upon reflection, I think was probably a populist. At that point in time, populist could be defined as accepting the best "sounding" points of both the liberals and conservatives of the time. That might still be the best definition. Perhaps the best description of my politics at that time would be "uninformed".
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