Many of those who have challenged the validity of our National Steering Committee's FEC filing appear to be unaware of one crucial fact. DALLAS HAS FILED NO PETITION WITH THE FEC WHATSOEVER!!! Their only action has been in reaction to the National Steering Committee's filing, which came about as a result of the direct instructions that the Steering Committee received from the National Caucus (not Democracy Caucus) Chicago meeting which invited all the states to come together to form such a committee in the first place. And those actions on the part of Dallas have been
1) to hold the equivalent of a closed-door, smoke-filled backroom telephone call where a secret committee was created for the purpose of creating the illusion that there is another national committee with equal validity to that of the National Steering Committee when in fact no such legitimate committee exists, and
2) to orchestrate a campaign of letters to the FEC, mostly on the part of Perot staffers, or those exclusively loyal to Perot 96, to discredit and vilify the ONLY legitimate national committee that exists of the Reform Party.
In other words, the Dallas forces, meaning Ross Perot, have made no attempt to place an alternate filing with the FEC for their consideration because, frankly, they don't have a leg to stand on. Currently, there are a plethora of state Reform Party affiliates in the process of formation around the country. Five of those affiliates are sufficiently formed and established to the point that they have full-fledged ballot access in 5 states as state parties, and have had since 1994! In other words, these are full-fledged grassroots democratically organized entities, which owe their existence not just to a presidential campaign by Ross Perot, but to a spontaneous outpouring of reformist fervor that had the effect of lifting them to complete political party status. For that we do not have Ross Perot to thank as much as we are grateful to ourselves, the people, thank you very much. Four of those states, Minnesota, Virginia, Oregon, and New York, along with several others, who are pursuing the same track, and will shortly be in a position similar to the four listed, came together to form this National Steering Committee. The legitimacy of these state parties, and the legitimacy of their decision to come together to form a national committee, CANNOT BE LEGALLY QUESTIONED. And Ross Perot knows they cannot be legally questioned. That is why THERE IS NO RIVAL FILING CURRENTLY SITTING IN THE FEC OFFICE inspired by Perot.
Reality is that these state parties which came together to form the National Steering Committee are not fly-by-night agitators. They are not Johnny-come-lately opportunists out to make a quick buck, or out to hijack political power. They are well-established legitimate political forces which found strength in the growing movement in this country toward political and fiscal reform. Their right to come together to form this national committee is on very firm ground legally, and Perot knows this. He knows that he cannot challenge them on legal grounds, or in front of the FEC, with much hope of success; he is therefore trying a political smear campaign as an alternate tactic instead. It is a desperation move, and will probably not work. The written and vocal statements, loud and obstreperous, made by Perot staffers and loyalists, conspicuous as they may be, are in fact just so much gorilla dust, as Perot would say, -- fulminations and eruptions of great volume and racket but in fact of no essential consequence. When the dust settles, Perot will still have to face the fact that real state parties currently exist, that they have come together to form a real national party, and that there is really not much Perot can do about that in the legal arena. His one forlorn hope is that by engaging in a POLITICAL effort, rather than a LEGAL effort, he can somehow, in a manner not at all clear, derail the legitimate growth of the national Reform Party.
Because of the fact that Perot doesn't have the legal basis, or the gall, to trump up some sort of FEC filing of his own, there is therefore little or no likelihood of the FEC somehow recognizing Perot, or a Perot-controlled group, as the true Reform Party, and therefore virtually no possibility, as some have suggested, that the state parties which make up our National Committee would pull out and form their own independent party. In fact, if the FEC, absent a rival filing by Perot, still chooses not to recognize the National Steering Committee at this time, it will far more likely be as a result of technical errors in the filing rather than any recognition on the FEC's part of the legitimacy of any spear-shaking on the part of diehard and paid Perotistas. It may be perfectly true that Perot will somehow try to organize a legitimate grassroots Reform Party organization for the purpose of then creating a national committee to function as a legal rival to the National Steering Committee, but with no organized fully functioning state party under his belt, with the possible exception of Pennsylvania, and with more partially organized states climbing aboard the National Steering Committee every week, that looks more and more like a hopeless cause.
I fervently agree with those who expect that if the FEC, as I believe it inevitably will, eventually recognizes the current National Steering Committee as the legitimate national committee of the Reform Party, then Perot will do whatever he can to see to it that the party's hard-won independence from Perot is short-lived. and may even try to expunge it from existence rather than suffer it to remain independent. Indeed, early on I had strong concerns over the following: Perot, in spite of his public rhetoric concerning a third party, nevertheless insisted throughout the campaign on portraying himself to the FEC, in his technical, legal paperwork, as an independent presidential candidate rather than the candidate of a third party; and in fact early in this campaign I expressed my fear that Perot would turn around after the campaign and say "Reform Party? What Reform Party? That was a field of dreams. It didn't exist yet, and it still doesn't. I was an independent candidate." But of course he can't say that now; why? Well, don't forget that those state Reform Parties, Minnesota, Oregon, Virginia, and New York, along with representatives of other state parties in earlier stages of development, came together to form a legitimate national committee of the National Reform Party, and they officially ran Ross Perot as their THIRD-PARTY, NOT INDEPENDENT, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE. In other words, Perot and his henchmen can try their damnedest, but the fact remains that he will be on very shaky legal ground. The fact remains that a firmly established party with full-fledged FEC recognition, and with federal matching funds coming to it as a result of the showing of THEIR presidential candidate, will be tough to destroy in the legal arena. And with this party showing every sign of filing full slates of local, congressional, and gubernatorial candidates in the 98 election it appears an attempt by Perot to derail such a movement even in the political arena will be fraught with difficulty at best. What is he going to do? Organize a rival third party? Where will be the political raison d'etre, the political appeal? Perot's negatives are sky-high, in a league with Gingrich's; why would people vote for yet another third party associated with Perot when there exists a strong viable nationwide party, the Reform Party, already qualified for matching funds, a party that will possibly by that time be associated with distinguished public figures like Dick Lamm, Ed Zschau, Lowell Weicker, John Anderson, Bill Bradley, Paul Tsongas, Tim Penny, and David Boren?
My parting words: Beware irrelevancy; avoid distractions. A group of new parties together chose Ross Perot as their presidential candidate, as well as running hundreds of candidates in local elections around the country. Prior to the election, that group came together in Schaumburg, Illinois, on September 28, to form out of those state parties a national party, the Reform Party. That national party's presidential candidate received 8% of the national vote, and also received votes for their local candidates around the nation, including a remarkably strong showing for their Senate candidate in Minnesota. Since 8% is well above the 5% required to qualify for federal funding, the Reform party is now eligible for matching funds in the 2000 election. The fact that one candidate of that party (who never bothered to show much interest in or support of the local candidates running in this new party, and who has a gift for generating publicity for himself) is making irrelevant noises about taking control of this new party is not only regrettable but, fortunately, quite immaterial. I would urge my fellow members of the Reform Party, and in particular our new leadership on the National Steering Committee, to keep their eye on the ball, and avoid blind alleys, dead ends, and wild goose chases. And if we're not careful Ross Perot will lead us on the wildest goose chase of all if we let him. We must not.
Of course, some of my readers may feel differently. Some of them may honestly feel that a Reform Party without Perot firmly in charge would be like having beer without the gas, or subways without the noise. But however you feel, let me hear from you. You are cordially invited to fill out the boxes below and express yourself. Bear in mind that I reserve the right to quote statements sent to me in this manner, in whole or in part, in subsequent Musings. Also, be sure to indicate in the Title of your Message the name of the Musings, "Gorilla Dust" to which you are responding. Thank you.
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