AHC: Ross Perot Wins or Deadlocks in 1992

Exit polls had him at 38-38-24 Democrat-Republic-NonVoters when asking who the second choice of his voters were.

If you look at the polls when Perot was in the 30s, Bush was only in the low 30s (he ultimately got 37%) and Clinton was in the 20s (he ultimately got 43%). It wasn't a matter of pure Republican discontent.
That's true.
 
Perot was also seen as a kind of superman. He organized the rescue of his employees out of Iran (which got turned into a book and a movie). He was a fighter for veterans' rights and veterans' benefits (and the POW/MIA issue, whatever one thinks of it). He was a distinguished eagle scout and negotiated in 1990 to be Vietnam's Business Agent should relations ever be normalized. He was a self-made billionaire with lots of charisma.

Perot was, much like Trump, a case of a lot of unique converging factors. It wasn't just that he was rich, it was that he had all this other stuff going on that built up his image.
 
Let's think about the cabinet of a Perot administration:

President: Ross Perot
Vice President: James Stockdale
Secretary of State: Gorge Mitchell (D)
Secretary of Defense: William Cohen (R)
Secretary of the Treasury: Lloyd Bentsen (D)
Attorney General:
Secretary of the Interior: Mark White (D)
Secretary of Agriculture:
Secretary of Commerce: Lee Iacocca
Secretary of Labor: Dick Gephardt (D)
Secretary of Health and Human Services: Dr. Bernadine Healy
Secretary of Education: John Silber
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development: Barbara Jordan (D)
Secretary of Transportation: Buddy Roemer (R)
Secretary of Energy:
Secretary of Veterans Affairs:
Chief of Staff: Ed Rollins (R)
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency:
Director of the Office of Management and Budget: John P. White (D)
Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy:
United States Trade Representative: Orson Swindle (R)
Ambassador to the United Nations: John Anderson (I)
 
Let's think about the cabinet of a Perot administration
Most of these picks look reasonable enough, though I do have some thoughts on some of them.
Vice President: James Stockdale
I personally think the scenario is more realistic if Perot picks someone else.
Secretary of Health and Human Services: Dr. Bernadine Healy
Like her. Though AAR, I imagine if Perot thought enough of her to want her to be his running mate, he might want to give her a higher position in the cabinet.
Secretary of State: George Mitchell (D)

Ambassador to the United Nations: John Anderson (I)
Senate Majority Leader? It's an interesting pick. Though in both of these cases, I wonder if their FP views align with Perot's that much. I'd imagine Kirkpatrick would be more in consideration (assuming she isn't the alt running mate).
Chief of Staff: Ed Rollins (R)
While he was an important part of Perot's campaign, Hamilton Jordan, who actually has experience as a White House Chief of Staff, did have an equally important one.
Director of the Office of Management and Budget: John P. White (D)
No idea why this is.
 
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