No, you are not imagining things. This is the Q&A-with-elder-statesmen-who’ve-made-unorthodox-but-splashy-runs-for-
president season.
Ross PerotWe just finished up with Ron Paul. Now it’s Ross Perot‘s turn. Perot ran for president in 1992 as an independent candidate, winning 19 percent of the vote; he ran in 1996 on the Reform Party ticket, winning 8 percent of the vote.
These days, he is focusing on the budget deficit with his new site PerotCharts.com, which uses charts and graphs to explain the nation’s debt. He told The Dallas Morning News:
I wanted something Forrest Gump could understand.
Besides his political activities, of course, Perot also founded two successful technology-services companies: Electronic Data Systems (sold to General Motors in 1984) and Perot Systems, of which he is currently chairman emeritus of the board.
Perot has agreed to field your questions, so fire away. Hopefully he will reward us with his trademark candor, and maybe some giant sucking sounds. As with past Q&A’s, we’ll post his answers in a few days.
Addendum: Perot answers your questions here.
and 
. You can also watch it on 
As someone who ran for national office not on a major party ticket, how important do you believe it is for this country to have more than two parties? Do you think having more parties would lessen the rancor and ideological swings? My personal feeling is with only two parties it is simply to easy to win by making the other party appear evil. Would you help finance a serious third party candidate, even if they chances of winning were low, if it looked like they could garner enough votes to get into future debates and pressure the major parties?
Why do guys from Texas with the initials RP have so much integrity? Did you really send some commandos into Iran to rescue a couple of EDS engineers? I have heard the story, and it appears to be true.
I have several questions, Mr. Perot…
1) Knowing what you know now, what would you have done differently for your presidential campaign in order to win?
2) What must third-party presidential candidates do to win a majority? Is that only way forward just making sure that the Democrats and Republicans have terrible candidates, or can a third-party pull it off in a strong competition?
3) Forget the financial crisis for a moment. What is the most important thing that America needs to do to preserve our dominance and way of life for the foreseeable future? What is it…and how would you go about it?
I very much appreciate you taking the time to answer our questions. Thank you for your support of our country.
What role do you think technology, specifically your areas of expertise, should have in solving this financial crisis?
You warned of an economic meltdown back in 1992. You said we would have several good years and then the budget deficit would soar. What was not part of the scenario in 1992 was a basic buy out of the financial sector of this country.
How do we get out of this mess?
Hi Ross,
You have been a strong advocate of a balanced budget for our nation. In our current times, with necessary bailouts happening everywhere, where would you start in order to eliminate the national debt America now has?
How do you feel about the controlled mainstream media’s blackout of Ron Paul, who garnered authentic grassroots popularity compared to Obama’s main stream media’s propogated rise to fame. Are you in tune with the ideas and philosophies of Ron Paul and where were you throughout the primaries and presidential run? The Ron Paul Revolution could have really used your help to offset the bias.
Do you consider all deficit spending misguided? Surely there are some times when it is called for. Are there any examples of deficit spending that you approve of?