Before I begin, let me say, "I'm Dwayne Strickland, and I approved this message." Now, that being said, I want to talk about the election. Not the 2008 election. I want to talk about the 1992 election. Sixteen years ago we had an unusual situation in the United States. For the first time in a while, a third major candidate was on the scene. Now, we have all seen our share of guys like Pat Buchanan who run every four years and have since 1890, but this guy was a serious contender. Good ole Ross Perot. Before his brief "withdrawal" from the campaign, he was ahead in the polls to the point that he could have cinched the election. Then he dropped out of the race and re-entered, which many Americans believed damaged his credibility. He says it was because Republican operatives were threatening to disrupt his daughter's wedding.
To set the scene completely, I've gotta tell you about the two other guys that were his contenders. First of all, George H. W. Bush, the incumbent president. He was a Republican, former VP under Reagan, and had tons of Washington experience. But we really couldn't believe this guy. Remember "Read My Lips?" Also, his wife, well I think it was his wife, was out of town frequently as a body double for the Quaker Oats man. Then you had good ole Sonny Bubba Clinton, the dark-horse candidate from Arkansas. Here's the man who dodged the draft, smoked but didn't inhale marijuana, and campaigned in every McDonald's around the country just because he stopped there for a snack. There was clearly enough room here with these two that giant rat who teaches martial arts to tiny turtles could have won the election by a landslide.
Ross began as a salesman for IBM, selling his yearly quota in two weeks. He left IBMM to found Electroinic Data Systems. He sold it to GM for several billion dollars. As you can see, the guy wasn't dumb. However, was it because he was smart that we disliked him? People made fun of his voice. People made fun of his height. People even made fun of his billions, but people couldn't make fun of or refute the fact that the guy was smart.
He had "business" ideas about how the government should be run. He was accustomed to making a profit on his work, so this guy knew how to watch pennies. God forbid we have someone in Washington that can do that. He also didn't need the money from that PAC's and the other lobbyist... God forbid we have someone in office that's not there for the money. He spent his own money for the most part to cover his campaign. He even bought time on Primetime TV, all three networks, to show us what his ideas were. He made sense. He had a sure fire plan, and his past stood as an example that he didn't take crap off of anyone, he didn't back down and he knew how to do things right. Bubba and Grandpa's didn't.
Well, then came election day. America went to the polls and 103 million people voted. Ross got a whopping 18.9% of that vote and no electoral votes. That's pretty bad for a man who was in the lead a few months before. He had suspended his campaign, trying to stand by his family. He had said the phrase "you people" (just a synonym of y'all to me) to an NAACP group. He had been mocked and ridiculed. So, why did he lose? Was it because of his faults or because of his successes. Was America not ready for an intelligent man in Washington? I guess not.
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