Perot's supporters swing to Clinton
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.BILL CLINTON, the Democrats' presidential nominee, left yesterday on a barnstorming tour of Middle America, buoyed by an enormous surge in the polls and evidence that abandoned supporters of the former independent candidate Ross Perot were starting to flock to his banner.
After the successful convention which ended on Thursday night, the Arkansas Governor received another fillip when a CNN-Gallup poll, conducted before his acclaimed acceptance speech, gave him a 23-point lead over President George Bush in what is again a two-horse race.
At a rally before leaving on a week-long bus trip from New York through eight North-Eastern and Mid-Western states to the Mississippi gateway city of St Louis, a jubilant Mr Clinton promised a campaign of 'action not words, of movement not talk', to 'build a coalition to reclaim our country's heritage'.
More important, however, than the soaring rhetoric of such occasions was the surprise endorsement of Mr Clinton by the man who, until the Dallas billionaire's withdrawal 24 hours earlier, had been chairman of his New York City campaign. Standing on the platform beside the Governor and the vice-presidential candidate, Senator Al Gore of Tennessee, Matthew Lithlander said his 'People for Perot' organisation was being converted into a 'Perot People for Clinton' committee. 'I urge all our supporters to back the Clinton-Gore ticket enthusiastically,' he declared.
Mr Gore claimed that the Clinton campaign had been bombarded by calls from Perot officials in many states 'telling us their people are coming to the same conclusion'. His words undoubtedly contained an element of deliberate hyperbole, in the hope of creating a bandwagon among disillusioned potential Perot voters, who may decide the election result. But the same CNN poll suggests that they prefer Mr Clinton to President Bush by a margin of around three to two.
Tempering Democratic euphoria, however, is the memory of how the former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis came out of the 1988 convention with a 17-point lead, only to be crushed by Mr Bush that November.
Chase on for defectors, page 11
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments