H Ross Perot

Believing he deserves to be heard, Orange County residents overwhelmingly endorsed the right of Reform Party candidate Ross Perot to participate in the presidential debates with President Clinton and challenger Bob Dole, according to hundreds who phoned The Times Orange County edition last week.

By a 3-to-1 ratio, readers responding to a Times Orange County poll called, faxed and e-mailed their overwhelming support for including Ross Perot in the presidential debates. Here's a sampling of responses: Want Perot in Debate "Yes! Let him debate. As least he won't call the Dodgers the Brooklyn Dodgers."

Reform Party candidate Ross Perot moved on several fronts Monday to seize political advantage after his exclusion from the 1996 presidential debates, including a new television ad campaign that declares: "Let Ross speak. The truth never hurt anyone." As promised, Perot filed suit in federal court seeking to force his way into the debates. He also is preparing a complaint with federal authorities to allow him to buy more commercial time on television.

Reform Party presidential candidate Ross Perot, angered at his exclusion from two upcoming presidential debates, singled out Bob Dole for blame Sunday and questioned the courage of the Republican nominee. "Here's a guy who's supposed to be a war hero," Perot said of Dole, who was severely wounded in World War II. "You'd think he'd be able to stand up and talk to another person. But he can't."

President Clinton and Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole plan to hold two 90-minute debates in October under an agreement that excludes Reform Party candidate Ross Perot, officials of the major-party campaigns announced Saturday. The bilateral agreement, disclosed after daylong negotiations, was immediately denounced by a Perot spokeswoman, who renewed the Texas billionaire's intention to file a federal lawsuit Monday seeking to prevent the debates from taking place without him.

Would a politician stoop to accepting a check from "Abortionists for Buchanan"? How about $100 from "Satan Worshipers for Dole"? Professional prankster Michael Moore just had to know how low America's presidential contenders would go for cash. So he tried a test. He sent a $100 check labeled "Hemp Growers of America" to President Clinton's reelection campaign. It came back stamped "PAID"--followed by two thank-you notes from Clinton. Ka-ching. Then Moore sent Patrick J.

Reverting to his attack-dog, populist style of four years ago, Texas billionaire Ross Perot on Wednesday indicted the two-party political system as a corrupt, self-serving institution that cannot stand the heat of examination by his campaign or independent-minded voters.

A bipartisan commission dealt a potentially devastating blow to Ross Perot's candidacy for president Wednesday, declaring he has no realistic chance of winning the White House and therefore should not participate in the 1996 presidential debates.

It's time to start drawing up some questions for the presidential debates this fall. So here are just a few suggested queries about American policy toward Asia. Maybe they can help to draw out from the presidential candidates at least something specific about what they might do after election day. CHINA: Do you favor changing the law to give China automatic, permanent renewals of its trade benefits in this country?

The name of Ross Perot's Reform Party running mate, economist Pat Choate, will not appear on ballots in either California or Texas because the vice presidential choice was made too late in both states for the Nov. 5 election. The Reform Party vice presidential candidate on the ballot in the states--the nation's most populous--will be James A. Campbell, a Reform Party member who was the designated stand-in in cases where Perot had to list a running mate to meet election-law deadlines.