Gutless wonder

unmakes history

(This is the first of a series of columns written during a 4,000-mile drive
across the continent. Flashes of sanity may occur.)

BOSTON, MASS. — The Democratic party convention
had begun when I arrived in old Boston town and never
was the wilful stupidity of American editors more ap-

parent.

Yesterday, the Boston Globe,
which considers itself as dust
beneath the chariot wheels of the

Democratic party, devoted 40% of

its news space to the convention
and to other purely political sub-
jects.
The TV networks were just as
lavish in devoting time, space and
money to the convention. All the
editors apparently feel that politics
is good for Americans and they
are going to see they get it good
and hard.
But there was a flash of sanity.
It appeared in the Wall Street
Journal. A Nielsen survey showed
that for all the screaming and
shouting, the American people
had tuned out. Each of the three
big U.S. television networks was
able to attract only slightly more
than 5% of the potential au-
dience. Cable News was even less
successful, drawing only 2.3%.
Of 96 television shows surveyed,
the political show rated 79th in
audience interest.
This turning away from the
democratic political process is one
central truth of American life and
neither the newspaper nor the
television editors are temperamen-
tally capable of facing. They just
babble on about arcane political
manoeuvrings which are as distant
from ordinary American men and
women as the Boston Tea Party.
This brings us to the subject of
Ross Perot, the gutless wonder.
His weakness of character may be
the great tragedy of the election of
1992.
Only yesterday, onc of the most
refreshing places to be in old
Boston was an acre or so of ex-
pensive office space in the
downtown rented, at their per-
sonal expense, by the Perot volun-
teers.
Hear volunteer Steffie Hoop,
Kansas-born, 25 going on 26, who
says she made lots and lots of
money in the advertising busiiiss
here: ‘J will probably never get to
even meet Ross Perot, but it
doesn't matter. I am creating his-
tory!”
. Why was this elegantly groomed

- young lady volunteering for Perot
instead of keeping on making lots
of money?

..Her moment of truth came a

month or so ago when she and her
- special friend had a party. Those

present included a national sales

manager for a radio station, a

doctor, two ad account executives,

two real estate developers and a

civil servanc. All were in the 25 to

Paul
St. Pierre

)

PAULITICS & PERSPECTIVES

35 year age group and all were
successful.

Of these eight people, Steffie
discovered she was the only one
who cast a vote in both the last
national elections. All the others
had joined the two-thirds to
one-half of Americans who have
dropped out. (A third vote in
congressional elections and half in
the presidential ones.)

In previous years she had work-
ed to elect Joe Kennedy and other
Democratic candidates in this state
but when she turned to Perot it
was like the love affairs in Harle-
quin Romance novels where the
lady says it was never like this be-
fore.

A co-chairman of the Perot
organization was Bill Anderson,
unyuppy, unflappable and until a
month ago uninvolved in politics.

“*He is my man on a white
horse,"' he says of Perot. The
dullest party hack in a Democrat
or Republican office would know
better than to use that term; in
politics it doesn't mean what Mr.
Anderson thinks it does. But the
very naivete of the remark is ap-
pealing. It is so much more real!
than the stuff on the idiot lamp
and in the papers.

It’s a day later now and Perot,
having discovered that being a
president takes work, courage and
dedication, has folded his hand.
He didn’t bother telling his volun-
teers in Boston or anywhere else.
He just quit with the same ease
with which he entered the
presidential race. It has something
to do with possessing billions of
dollars; it is called fatty degenera-
tion of the soul.

; — Automatic &

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