Don't Underestimate Perot

SUDDENLY THE WHITE HOUSE IS PAYING VERY CLOSE ATTENtion to this fellow PEROT, thanks in part to the alarms sounded by the President's son George W. Bush. George W., who lives in Dallas and knows a number of ardent Perot supporters, has been worried that the Bush-Quayle campaign has been underestimating the dangers posed by a Perot candidacy. The President needs 270 electoral votes to win. In 1988, though, Bush won 120 of his 426 electoral votes by margins of less than 5% of the total ballots cast. According to George W.'s calculations, the Democratic candidate can win if Perot siphons off just 5% of the vote in 12 key states: Illinois, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Missouri, California, New Mexico, Michigan, Colorado, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma and Tennessee. And California and the South are already considered Perot's main strongholds among the white, middle-class, unhappy voters Bush needs. Sums up a senior adviser to the Bush campaign: "Ross Perot doesn't have to do well to knock Bush off."