"Perot's own behavior has been the opposite of a populist," Brinkley says. "He's been insulated from media and insulated from the people.... He's entirely a candidate of media packaging. He's made himself into a series of sound bites unmediated by any other group. Yes, there's the occasional rhetoric, but it's not populism."
But tell that to August A. "Gus" Toda, the secretary of the Massachusetts United We Stand organization. United We Stand is the nationwide Perot alliance formed after Perot dropped from consideration in July and before he reentered the race in October.
"You betcha it's populist," Toda declares. "Last spring, I was astounded at the wide political spectrum of the people involved. We had people from the Jerry Brown campaign working side by side with people who were working for Patrick Buchanan," he says. Toda claims to have 10,000 active volunteers in Massachusetts now.
The constant refrain of Perot organizers like Toda is that Perot has brought in Americans never before involved in the political system. Tethered by concerns about the national debt and energized by Perot's personal style and direct appeals, a broad range of people feel for the first time that they can effect change, the organizers say. And his ability to spark this feeling is what makes him a populist, they insist.
"There has been no person better at communicating with ordinary people," Toda says. "He talks a language people understand. He has a real interest in what people say and think and do. We haven't seen this kind of man in government in a long time. Bush sounds like a Yalie and Clinton sounds like someone who went Oxford. George Bush doesn't even understand people."
"We have people in their 40s who've never voted," Toda adds. "I never have. [Politicians] have been bums since I was an adult."
As if reading from a script, Perot cheerleaders from every corner of the nation echoed Toda last week. "If you ever were in here, you would find everybody," says Bonnie Wendel, a campaign worker in Topeka, Kan. "I see a welder, a consultant, a bank worker, people with real estate, unemployed people, a man in the race car bus. Very few of them have ever been involved in politics before."
"It's pretty damn grass roots," gnarls Korman,the jewelry store owner. "I'm looking at afireman, an out-of-work computer guy, some highschool students. It's an incredibly interestingmix of people. It's an unbelievably diverse crowdof volunteers. If there's one area that's lacking,there's not as much minority involvement as Iwould like."
The hard-core Perot supporters and organizersseem to be lost white Baby Boomers, the middleAmerica fortysomethings who didn't become yuppiesand yet didn't slip into poverty. They witnessedboth Watergate and Jimmy Carter's failure, andthey give mixed reviews of Ronald Reagan.
They hold at least one thing in common: Theydislike the two major political parties. For them,"populism" and "grass roots" aren't aboutcoalition-building, the traditional job of apolitician. For them, grass-roots "Perotism" meansvitalizing new groups of Americans.
"He's brought out a sleeping giant in people,"Korman says. "There's a lot more despair out therethan some would like to believe...It takes someonefrom outside the political system. Or it will takea call to arms."
But Perot's detractors--especiallyCambridge's own Eastern academics--view the Perotmovement with a much more cynical eye.
That a corporate giant who has influenced thehighest levels of government for 25 years hastouched a populist cord of individual politicalpower not pawed since the days of Huey Long seemsjust too incredible for many of these folks. Forthe detractors, Perot's decision to drop out andthen enter the race later changed everything.
"In the beginning, at least--in the spring,that is--there was a very visible populist elementto the Perot movement," Brinkley says. "Thatremains an element for the long-time supporters.But what's happening now has more to do with thedynamics of the campaign rather than anyparticular elements of Perot movement. [There are]increasing fears raised by the Bush campaign aboutvoting for Clinton, and there's a deep reluctanceto vote for Bush. [Perot] is convenient andattractive--largely because of the debates."
Perot organizers interviewed last week didadmit that the dynamics of the campaign in thelast month have been different than last spring.
