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First, Perot spent most of 1992 hammering President Bush over his stewardship of the country. -snip-Secondly, Perot was solely responsible for making the national debt a major issue in 1992. No one really cared about the debt over the course of the ’80s, and had Perot not run,-snip-Finally, Perot siphoned off a lot of Reagan Coalition voters who were displeased with the Bush Administration. Perot’s economic nationalism appealed to Buchananites, who already had one foot outside of the GOP tent given Pat’s run against Bush earlier in the year. Ross’ seeming dismissal of social issues and isolationist stances were attractive...

At a town hall today in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, Donald Trump floated the idea -- without explicitly threatening to do so -- that he may run as an independent candidate. Trump attacked the Republican National Committee, saying it "better get its act together" and it "does a terrible job." Trump said he believes the RNC treated him unfairly.Trump also went off on the crowd that booed him during Saturday night's GOP debate in South Carolina: "Look at it, that was a wealthy room.""The whole room was made of special interests and donors, which is a disgrace from the RNC,"...

31 MONTHS AGO! Today marks six months since the September 11, 2012 terrorist attacks on the U.S. compounds in Benghazi, Libya in which four Americans were killed, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens. Some watchdog groups, members of the media and Republican members of Congress are asking: Where are the more than two dozen U.S. personnel who survived the attack but haven't been seen nor heard from in public since? There were also an undisclosed number of witnesses at the U.S. compounds in Tripoli but they also have not spoken publicly. In a recent press report, Secretary of State John Kerry...

With whispers that former New York City mayor and billionaire Michael Bloomberg may mull a run for the White House, politicos are already hyperventilating about how he would shake up the current field. Would he run as a Democrat, a Republican or an independent (he's been all three)? Would he take on billionaire rival Donald Trump? Would he swing at Hillary Clinton (whom he reportedly does not like)? Yet despite the excitement from election-watchers, Bloomberg's entry is unlikely and ill-advised anyway. In an interview with Byron York, Republican strategist Alex Castellanos summed it up: "Michael Bloomberg is a solution in...

A former board member of Hewlett-Packard who voted to fire Carly Fiorina as CEO is now endorsing the businesswoman's 2016 Republican presidential campaign. "Carly did what she was brought in to do: turn the company around and make it successful again. Not only did she save the company from the dire straits it was in, she laid the foundation for HP's future growth," Tom Perkins wrote for a full-page New York Times ad. The comments, in an advertisement placed in the newspaper's business section Thursday by a pro-Fiorina super-PAC, were framed as a response to an Aug. 18 Times column...

DERRY, N.H. — What was once flippantly deemed the Summer of Trump has evolved into something much bigger: a singular moment in American political and cultural history. (snip) Trump’s candidacy will be a moment that today’s voters will have to explain to their grandchildren. “What is happening with Trump is not a fluke,” said Harvard government and sociology professor Theda Skocpol, author of “The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism.” “Yes, he is a great entertainer, but he is able to take advantage of a number of dynamics in American politics as they exist right now. This is...

... A new Morning Consult survey of self-identified Republicans and Republican-leaning independents shows Trump maintaining his standing at 32 percent, far ahead of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R), who earns 12 percent of the vote. ...

Let me see if I’ve got his straight:There’s a man who is a pure product of the City of New York, one of the great urban cesspools of our time, a borderline third-world metropolis run as a combination nanny state and dictatorship.He is the epitome of all that is hated about that city: he is brash,loud,boastful,vulgar,insincere,and only as honest as he has to be. Furthermore,he has few of the city’s virtues.Where the typical New Yorker is hot-blooded,he is cold, where generous,he is close-handed,where magnanimous,he is vicious. You could look long and hard for a more impressive illustration as to why...

Donald Trump keeps warning the Republican National Committee to treat him “fairly” and “with respect” during the primary, or else he might run in the general election as an independent. This is meant to be a threat, but it’s a fairly empty one. Trump is a bigger threat to the party on the inside than on the outside. Today, Trump looks like a populism-spouting insurgent with the potential to split the party, giving Republicans cause to keep him in the fold. But that’s because for the moment, he’s running in a Republican primary, solely focused on conservative base voters. Running...

The brouhahas over billionaire Donald Trump show how broadcasters favor easy, juicy stories about powerful people’s bad words over harder, less sexy ones about their bad deeds. This is a teachable moment for the mass media. Failing to take Trump seriously could set a dangerous precedent for future candidates with fresh ideas, looking to shake up the controlling status quo. The Huffington Post, which carries my column, announced that it is excluding Trump from its political coverage and instead filing all stories about the man leading the Republican field, according to the most recent polls, under entertainment. If they existed...

Donald Trump's 2016 presidential run seems custom-made for a third party. The billionaire developer has never held political office, never run as a Republican or Democrat. He doesn't need a party's money-raising apparatus. His anti-politician appeal — "Politicians are never going to bring us to the promised land" — cuts equally against Republicans and Democrats. And as far as Republicans are concerned, Trump appears to connect with GOP voters who are so disgusted with the party's current Washington leadership that they would be open to a third-party campaign. But in an interview Tuesday, Trump said he has no interest in...

Plutocrat and former third party presidential candidate Ross Perot donated $1 million to Planned Parenthood of Texas, to help fill the gap left by the state’s defunding of the Women’s Health Program. “For nearly 100 years Planned Parenthood has helped to educate men and women regarding family planning and general family health,” said Margot Perot, speaking for the Perot Foundation of Dallas. “Our family has supported this nonprofit for many years because we are impressed with the work they do—providing birth control; scientifically based education; breast health exams; and basic, life-saving healthcare for women who cannot afford services otherwise.” In...

Billionaire and former presidential candidate Ross Perot’s foundation announced yesterday that it will donate $1 million to Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas, the Huffington Post reports. Governor Rick Perry cut off the women’s health network’s state and federal funding last year — including funds that went to its preventative and basic health-care programs for uninsured women — citing the overarching pro-abortion stance. (He called this a “win for women.”) The abortion restrictions signed into law in June have already closed three Planned Parenthood clinics. Perot’s wife Margot said in a written statement that the foundation recognized “the need to further...

DALLAS – The Perot Foundation of Dallas Texas today announced a $1 million gift to Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas to support the nonprofit’s essential health care and education services for low-income and uninsured Texans. More than 95% of Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas’ services are basic, preventive health care, including lifesaving breast and cervical cancer screenings, birth control, and testing and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases. “For nearly 100 years Planned Parenthood has helped to educate men and women regarding family planning and general family health,” said Margot Perot. “Our family has supported this nonprofit for many years because...

Ross Perot Sr., along with Hillwood Communities and Realty Capital, plans to move a historic house Wednesday at the venture's $1 billion residential community project in North Texas. The 1882 Faught Farm House will be moved several feet and will position the home, that is expected to receive historical designation, as the project's community amenity center. Perot will drive the truck moving the house at the groundbreaking ceremony at FM 407 and Prairie Mound Cemetery Road in Argyle. The project will be in Argyle and Northlake. Earlier this year, Hillwood Communities and Realty Capital announced its partnership plans for the...

Tuesday morning, in an op-ed in the Des Moines Register, businessman and former presidential candidate Ross Perot declared his unequivocal support for Republican candidate Mitt Romney. "President Obama promised a great deal. He has had his chance," Perot wrote. "The results are visible for all to see. It is time for a new beginning. It is time for Mitt Romney." Complaining of Obama's policy writ large, Perot echoed the GOP challenger's campaign slogan, writing that America "can't afford four more years in which debt mushrooms out of control, our government grows and our military is weakened." Going on to praise...

Billionaire businessman and one-time presidential candidate H. Ross Perot on Tuesday endorsed GOP candidate Mitt Romney. Perot, whose 1992 independent bid for the presidency captured close to 19 percent of the vote, praised Romney in an op-ed in the Des Moines Register, saying the GOP nominee would restrain the growth of government and “keep it from acting as a brake on economic growth.” The national debt has been a signature issue for the 82-year old Perot and his endorsement comes after an interview earlier this month where he declined to back a presidential candidate, accusing both candidates of doing little...

Ross Perot, the billionaire who shook up the 1992 presidential campaign, has largely remained silent since his emergence on the nation’s political stage nearly two decades ago and as he emerges from the shadows (in part to drum up interest in his forthcoming autobiography) he’s remaining silent about one more thing: The current top candidates running for office.

<p>When the Tea Parties appeared on the scene in 2009, some argued that they seemed to be the second coming of the supporters of H. Ross Perot --- right-leaning but wary of the traditional leadership of the Republican party, deeply concerned about budgetary and debt issues, and generally disgusted with Washington and incumbents.</p>

Newt Gingrich says, "Between us, Santorum and I are stopping Romney."