I would never have voted for Perot, as he was pro-abort, but I do not believe that he cost George the Elder the election.
Besides Perot, Pat Buchanan’s campaign where he scored 38% against an incumbent president should have been taken as a warning sign.
When Perot jumped in, many Establishment experts assumed he would take votes from Clinton because of his gas tax, pro-abort, and government interventionist stances. These experts read the public’s perception completely wrong. As a result, Bush the Elder pussy-footed around Perot until it was too late. He also made no effort to address the dissatisfaction of the base, relying on anti-Clinton sentiment to rally the troops. It wasn’t enough.
Bush lost the election. He wasn’t entitled to Perot votes.
“I would never have voted for Perot, as he was pro-abort...”
So was Bush, he just didn’t have the guts to state it openly by the time he was running for president.