Columnist Mike O’Callaghan: Dole gave Ross Perot a new publicity horse to ride

Monday, Oct. 28, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

SHADES OF SPIRO AGNEW! Now that darn "liberal press," a quarter of a century later, is frustrating GOP presidential candidate Bob Dole. He's upset that the media isn't printing all of his personal attacks on President Bill Clinton. This requires us to conclude that anybody who doesn't buy into Dole's political attacks are captives of those terrible liberals.

Dole has every reason to be frustrated when attempting to take up residence in the White House. This is his third attempt for national office and no matter how many times he attacks Clinton, the president's rating in several polls seem to send back only bad news for Dole. This isn't easy for a former majority leader of the U.S. Senate to accept.

Dole knows he has been a successful politician in a position many view as one of the most powerful in the world. Few people can challenge his ability, experience and political skill. One of those few is a sitting president who is heading a country thriving economically.

I have often expressed my admiration for Bob Dole the soldier, senator and person. He has earned my respect over the years even when it concerns issues upon which we must disagree. Because of this, I find it easy to overlook remarks about the "liberal media" trying to do him damage by ignoring some of the statements he keeps repeating. Both the ultra-liberal and ultra-conservative media irritate me from time to time.

So it's easy to understand Bob Dole's frustration as he keeps swinging his political bat for home runs and watches the polls reflecting strikes as the day of reckoning approaches.

What is difficult to understand is Dole sending an emissary to Ross Perot asking him to withdraw from the race. Impossible to believe is that the Republican standard bearer thought that Perot would remain silent about the request. Seldom has the American political scene been treated to a candidate with the motor-mouth of Perot. Although Perot himself didn't go public, it was but a matter of a few hours after this meeting with Scott Reed, Dole's campaign manager, that the story was out. The Reform Party candidate called Dole's request "weird and totally inconsequential." It gave Perot the publicity he has been struggling to get but has been denied in 1996 because of his bizarre behavior during his 1992 race against President George Bush and Clinton.

Remember that campaign? That's when Perot dropped out of the race and made some charges the Bush people called "loony." Later, after he had milked the conspiracy charges that his family had been threatened, he returned to the campaign with even more money and eventually scored in the double digits on election day.

Perot's mouth and egocentric personality didn't allow him to hide his dark side from the public when he re-entered the White House race. His penchant for getting involved with nuts and investigating friends, enemies and business associates all came bubbling out. But when questioned further by the press, his answer was simply that he was getting "sick and tired of you all questioning my integrity without a basis for it." He wanted to tell his story and his story only. No matter how ridiculous and no matter how little proof he had to back up his paranoid-sounding stories, he came unglued when asked to explain. Anything he didn't want to discuss, he called "silly putty."

Perot has always been master of sound bites by referring to the "crazy aunt in the basement" and "silly putty." Very few prominent politicians have had the courage to take Perot on and challenge him for facts and evidence. The first to do so was Nevada's Sen. Harry Reid who nailed him March 2, 1993.

The respected Financial Times reported the confrontation as follows:

"Ross, I like you a lot," Mr. Reid tactfully began. "But, in your statement here, you gave us 45 minutes of sound bites and five minutes of detail.

"I think you should start checking your facts a little more and stop listening to the applause so much," the senator admonished.

Encouraged by Mr. Reid's resolution, several other heavyweight senators then presumed to suggest that Mr. Perot's views were not always infused by knowledge.

That encounter with his fellow senators should have given Dole some clue about Perot's instability. How a man of his caliber could even try to do business with Perot will probably be revealed in a book during the coming years.

Right now, I can't think of any good reason, other than the fact his campaign staff is panicky.