Good morning.

Several million volunteers in all 50 states have done a brilliant job in reestablishing a government that comes from the people.

Both political parties are now squarely focused on the issues that concern the American people.

Being associated with the volunteers across this country in the last few months has been one of the great experiences of my life.

Their love of their country and their idealism just is apparent as you visit with them.

And throughout this effort we have said repeatedly that our objective is to improve our country, not disrupt the political process.

We have said among ourselves and publicly that we must win in November. We must win a majority of electoral votes.

As you know if we cannot win in November, the election will be decided in the House of Representatives. And since the House of Representatives is made up primarily of Democrats and Republicans, our chances of winning would be pretty slim.

Now that the Democratic Party has revitalized itself, I have concluded that we cannot win in November and that the election will be decided in the House of Representatives.

Since the House of Representatives does not pick the president until January, the new president will be unable to use the months of November and December to assemble the new government.

I believe it would be disruptive for us to continue our program since this program would obviously put it in the House of Representatives and be disruptive to the country. In the states—.

So therefore, I will not become a candidate.

In the states where petitions have not yet been turned in, I urge the volunteers to turn them in so that both parties can know exactly who the people are who are so concerned about their country's future.

If the petitions are turned in, both parties will continue to give a great deal of attention to the concerns of these fine people. And this is good for the country, for the parties to be very close to what the people want.

New York State is scheduled to start its petition signing today.

I urge the volunteers in New York State to complete the process and turn in their petitions so that everybody running for president will know the names and addresses of all the people who are not happy with the way things are today.

I'd like to thank the members of the press who have been assigned to this effort.

And again, I would like to thank the volunteers, the dedicated teams across the country, who have worked so valiantly to get this done. Nothing like this has ever occurred before in American politics. I compliment you on your patriotism, your idealism, your creativity, and your ingenuity.

There is no question that you have changed politics in this country, and it is a change for the better. And all you have to do is listen to what both of the party candidates are saying now. They are basically focused totally on the things that so concerned you.

So to all the volunteers, I'll always look back on this with the fondest memories, and my memories will be focused on you and your greatness because you are America. And I am certain that the Founding Fathers would be very proud of you.

Thank you very much. Any questions? I'll take a few questions.


QUESTION: Mr. Perot, would you support either Mr. Clinton or Mr. Bush...?

PEROT: It wouldn't be appropriate for me to. If the, if the volunteers— any question like this, and you could ask a whole series— If anything like this comes up, we will bring the volunteers together and say, What do you want to do? If the volunteers say we'd like to just go independently on our way. Fine. If they would like to stay together and have more political influence, that's up to them.

I would let them— they would make that decision. All I would do would be the catalyst to bring them together and say, Why don't y'all kick this round, decide what you want to do. That's the way we started out running the campaign.

QUESTION: Mr. Perot, you say you're not running because this would throw this into the House of Representatives. But what about the reports of turmoil in the last couple of days? How did that play into your decision today?

PEROT: It was insignificant.

QUESTION: Insignificant?

PEROT: It was nothing.

QUESTION: How much money did you spend?

PEROT: Quite a bit. Quite a bit. I don't have the number. The question was how much money have I spent? It's you know, it's not cheap. I think the number is somewhere up around $10 million, now.

That's not a factor, fortunately. But the main thing I'm concerned about is all these wonderful people who have worked so hard, who are concerned about what kind of country their children are going to live in. I want their desires as citizens to materialize in this campaign.

QUESTION: Mr. Perot, what changed that made you decide you can't win?

PEROT: The overriding change was the revitalization of the Democratic Party. I decided it was definitely going into the House of Representatives. When we started—just go back and track it from the time we started, say through early summer.

Then there was a climate there where we could win out right. The, the Democratic Party has revitalized itself. They've done a brilliant job in my opinion in coming back. And I'm am hopeful that both parties will really focus on what the people are concerned about in this country. I hope we will focus on rebuilding our country. That's what the people want.

QUESTION: ...Democratic ticket...?

PEROT: No, no. And I was afraid that you would get that impression, that when I say the Democratic Party has revitalized itself. No, I am not. I just go vote. I have never gone around and said who I voted for. I won't this year.

But I do owe it to the volunteers in all 50 states if they say wait a minute, we want to stay together as a 50 state unit and try to really influence the political process.

First, if both parties are sensitive, that won't happen. That's what I'm hoping both parties will do.

If they're insensitive, I will not take the initiative, but if all volunteers call me and say look, we need to get together and figure out what to do. Certainly, I [inaud.] them to get together with them anytime they want to.

Excuse me. This young lady has been asking me again and again.

QUESTION: Mr. Perot, you've had such a groundswell of support. Do you feel that you've in any way let your supporters down? Some of them will feel that way, undoubtedly.

PEROT: Well, I'm certain there will be a whole spectrum of feelings. We will have a whole team of people working very closely with our volunteers to handle any concerns like that. I mean, that's a very fair question. And one that we are— See, I love these people. If you've been around them— you can't be around them and not really love these people.

But these people love their country. This whole thing was motivated by love of country, not personal you know— I don't have any drive to be president of the United States. They don't have any drive to stop doing what they normally do, except they're worried about where we are and where their country's going. But if we can only be disruptive, we don't want to do that.

QUESTION: But some were counting on you to go the distance.

PEROT: All the way along in our meetings, we agreed that we did not want to hurt this country; we want to help this country.

Now let's say we go the distance. This is not an athletic contest. This is something at a very critical time in our country's history. If you will ever take 15 minutes to look at the charts and graphs of where our economy is and so on and so forth, you would  realize we have got major, major problems that we need to deal with right here at home.

So this is not an athletic contest. This is a, this is a program to say what is really good for the country? I am absolutely convinced or I wouldn't be standing here today that putting this thing in the House of Representatives is negative and disruptive, and we shouldn't do it.

QUESTION: You say that the reason that you're dropping out is because of the revitalization of the Democratic Party, but it's only July. Four years ago, Michael Dukakis led President Bush, Vice President Bush by 17 points, and people were talking about how the Democratic Party was revitalized. Aren't you pulling out awfully early when things could change down the road?

PEROT: Well time will tell. I'm not a— I think that it is more productive to do it now, to give all the volunteers all their options across the country.

Now they have every option in the world. They can, they can go with either candidate.

I am hopeful that both parties will be extremely sensitive to the concerns of the people. That is one of the great byproducts of what the volunteers have accomplished. Believe me they are sensitive to the people.

If you will read, read carefully what we were saying in the Spring. And you will see the same words again and again and again, uttered by both parties now because they know that's what the people want to hear.

Yes, sir.

QUESTION: Mr. Perot, one of the great appeals you have is you're pointing out continually that the parties promise and do not deliver—the major parties. All the Democrats have done now is promise. Does that convince you that they will deliver? Or the Republicans too. I mean, this is, could look like the way you used to talk, so realistically this could still be the good old pattern.

PEROT: Well, if they attract the voters this year, I think they will—with these issues, I think they will have to deliver. And I would certainly hope that both parties do intend to deliver on their commitments.

Yes, sir.

QUESTION: Mr. Perot, you've been, you've been highly critical of President Bush throughout your, the start of this campaign. Do you intend to remain silent from now until the election? Aren't you going to say anything about public policy that might reflect on either of the candidates?

PEROT: Well, I really don't know. I mean, as a private citizen, if I'm concerned and you know I'm speaking somewhere, I probably won't have a personality change. I'll say what's on my mind.

Yes.

QUESTION: You said early on that it was up to the people to decide whether you ran for president or not. And now you seem to be making that decision yourself. Shouldn't you have let this run its course once you started in. I mean, 33 states have already turned in petitions. Don't you have an obligation?

PEROT: I have an obligation to do the right thing.

QUESTION: Will you urge your supporters, the petition gatherers, not to vote for you because if they do that might contribute to the kind of confusion you say you want to avoid?

PEROT: No, again, the thing constructive thing for them to do is to study both parties very carefully and pick someone in November.

I haven't asked anybody a question right here. Go ahead.

QUESTION: What would you say to the volunteers who are going to be very disappointed about this and say, You got us into this. And now you couldn't take the hit and your quit—couldn't take the heat and you're a quitter.

PEROT: Well, people can say anything they want to say. I am trying to do what's right for my country.
Now that probably makes me odd in your eyes, but that's what I'm trying to do.

QUESTION: Mr. Perot, it's been said that this campaign is not fun anymore. It started out, you had tremendous enthusiasm. Perhaps you didn't expect that the problems would get as severe as they have gotten. Is the thrill gone? Is that part of what went into your decision?

PEROT: No. Not at all. But see, again, you're assuming that that the leaks or whatever sources you have, were accurate. And unfortunately most of them are not. No, the fun is still there. But I'm not in this for ego. I'm not in this for fun. I'm not in this for gratification. I'm in this for what's good for my country, what's good for our children and our grandchildren, and I'm trying to do the right thing. It's that simple.

QUESTION: Do you have any regrets about the way you've done business over the last couple of months as far as your campaign goes? Any regrets at all?

PEROT: No, not nothing that— I'm sure I could go through and come up with a lot of little things. But I can't think of anything that I would change significantly.

QUESTION: Has it been worth it to you? After after spending, you said about $10 million, after the months, after putting your your family and friends through sometimes difficult situations, has it been worth it to you?

PEROT: Absolutely yes. Being with the volunteers, being with all these wonderful people that make the world go, seeing how much they love their country, seeing how much they want to keep the American Dream alive, seeing how much they want to pass it on to the next generation gives me a sense of comfort I didn't have until I spent a lot of time with them. Because I didn't see that at the top. I see it down where the people are, is the all of that spirit is the spirit of '76 is still alive.

QUESTION: ...you've been beating up on George Bush and the dirty tricksters and you've spoken very kindly of Bill Clinton and Al Gore, his selection as running mate. Are you now coming in to say after this message that's gone out for the last few months, to say, People, they really sort of [inaud.] Make up your minds.

PEROT: I do not beat up on individuals. You miscast what I have said.

QUESTION: The Republican Party.

PEROT: No. No. I will talk about issues.

I mean, the things that I have criticized are not personal, personal issues. Here are people who are governing, and I disagree with things they're doing. I disagree with a $400 billion dollar deficit this year, for example. That is not a personal attack on an individual. I disagree with not giving primary concern to what's going on in this country. That's not a personal attack.

I have said at least 100 times that George Bush is a fine man, wonderful family, and so on and so forth. I'm afraid you're all starting to start to get vaccinated with what you write, not what I say.

QUESTION: What was going through your mind in the last [inaud.] and can you sort of tell us how you came to this decision in your mind.

PEROT: I'm an engineer. I just rationally looked at the facts. I just analyzed the facts. You don't make good decisions with emotions. You make good decisions just looking at the facts.

QUESTION: [inaud.]

PEROT: That has nothing to do with it. I mean, let's assume we're at a picnic for 10,000 people and one mosquito shows up. You wish he weren't there, right? Okay. But that doesn't ruin the picnic.

See, you all create these myths, and then you believe them. I just adore it.

QUESTION: You talked for months about making a fundamental change in Washington. Do you believe that this revitalized Democratic Party that you refer to is capable of making that fundamental change?

PEROT: I believe— Perfect world, let's take a perfect world.

I wish I had all my details [inaud.] on the economy, and you would age ten years as I showed to you. And then I would say alright, what is the perfect scenario to fix this? And with many of you being students of Washington, you would say, Okay, it's going to probably take 12 years to do it. We've got a new House coming out every two years. We got a new President coming in every four years. We've got a new Senate coming in every six years. There's nothing here that fits a 12-year program, right?

But, that's what it will take to fix the economy and not destroy the economy in an effort to save it. And that is one of my big fears—that people will be too aggressive and hurt it.

You would conclude, I think, that we need what the British call a parliamentary system. We would ideally during this period, have a very responsible House, Senate and White House from one party.
So we would get rid of gridlock. If you don't get rid of gridlock, there is no chance to change it.

And as I looked very closely at the economy, one of the factors in my decision was—this is interesting if we had a Democratic House of Senate or a Republican House and Senate and I were an independent. And if we stay involved in rock-throwing and gridlock, it would be difficult to get this very difficult, complex task accomplished.

So I think the perfect scenario would be unity, focus, the ability to work in tandem for many, many years to go from where we are to where we have to be, because we have a lot of work to do.

I want to take two more and then I've got to go to work.

QUESTION: Could you be more specific about exactly what it was that you saw in the Democratic Party that made you decide, and give us a little bit of a chronology of the specifics that that triggered this decision on your part?

PEROT: No, you're focusing too much on the Democratic Party. That was part of it. It's a piece, there many pieces in this decision. One is, if you say driving it is what does it take to rebuild America and solve our economic problems? I think a unified government with a strong leader for a number of years, with the leadership in the House and Senate being very focused, very focused on the people's wishes, and having the honesty and integrity to explain to every American citizen we're talking about pain and sacrifice.

To quote Senator Tsongas, there is no Santa Claus. Now, I would urge both candidates not to run on the Santa Claus theory, because they're gonna get a lot of soot on them going down the chimney if they try that.

So I would urge both candidates to just provide the leadership, Then in a perfect world, have the leadership for the House and Senate so that they're very together working on the problems to fix them. So having an independent injected with— Let's take the worst world, Democratic House Republican Senate, Independent President.  Now if that's not a recipe for gridlock and ego-driven Washington, I don't know what is. So that is that is a factor. Then the revitalization of the Democratic Party eliminated, in my judgment, the possibility for a clean win in November. Then it's just a whole series of factors like that, all of them just kind of what you just call them a rational analysis.

QUESTION: When specifically did you make this decision—today or when?

PEROT: I made it yesterday.

QUESTION: What if the Republican Party—

PEROT:  Well excuse me. Very simple. That's a fair— I close on this one because I think it's a nice note to close on.

And made it yesterday, but we had to have a press conference yesterday because of leaks. We planned to cover all this at once this morning. Okay? I'll try one more.

QUESTION: [inaud.]

PEROT: There's a great question. Is the electoral college still relevant? No. Absolutely not. Interestingly enough, Senator Pryor has an amendment to abolish it, and there was pressure to try to move on that amendment this fall. I hope it will be moved on.

For example, in Texas. 49.9% of the people can vote for Candidate A, and 50.1% of the people vote for Candidate B, and 100% of the Texas electoral vote goes to Candidate B. That does not express the will of the people. So I think that would be an excellent step if we change that for the people of the United States.

Listen, it's been a fun to work with all of you. I wish you all the best. I hope you'll have a chance to go home and enjoy your families a little bit now.

QUESTION: What do you do now, Mr. Perot?

PEROT: Go to work, go to work. I gotta pay the bills. It was good to talk to you and to all the volunteers again thank you so much. God bless you.