“For the vice presidential spot, we were thinking about someone who would unite the party rather than one who would get Perot/Keyes voters. Governor Bob Bullock of Texas, Congressman Steny Hoyer of Maryland, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, and Senator Dianne Feinstein of California were considered. Eventually, we settled down on Hoyer. We hoped that he’d go along with the steady hands argument that we were presenting to the electorate.”
-Congressman Tony Coelho
“Ross Perot was the best thing that happened in American politics since Richard Nixon acquired a taste for gin. In both cases, the political dialogue of the day was enriched by spontaneous gibberish that entertained the wrong people and made the right ones question their faith."
-Hunter S. Thompson, United Future candidate for Vice President
“The United Future ticket is the only one that is against the current establishment policies of neo-imperialism. We’re not trying to become the British Empire, are we? Worldbuilding is a waste of money when we should be worried about mom and pop back home.”
-Ross Perot, United Future candidate for President
“Alan Keyes is what America looks for in a president. He is very much the model of what America stands for. He is the candidate that will keep our nation strong at home and abroad for the next four years.”
-General Norman Schwarzkopf
“Ronnie is going to be proud knowing that Alan Keyes is here to continue his idea of a shining city on a hill.”
-First Lady Nancy Reagan
“Alan Keyes has the same fighting spirit that drove the civil rights movement.”
-Mayor Roy Innis
“Many people think the Republicans are harsh, or uncompromising. That is simply false. I am a proud and compassionate conservative.”
-Senator Doug Ward delivering the 1996 Republican keynote speech
“I think we must just see the next Republican president right there.”
-Bill O'Reilly on Fox News
“Mr. Keyes knows that if our government provides the economic freedom we have seen under the Republican administrations, we will be a more prosperous and strong nation.”
-Vice President James Baker
“There’s been a conservative wind in the air ever since we got Ronald Reagan in the presidency, and it’s still going strong.”
-President Alan Keyes
“Sam Nunn has been invested in keep the country safe through his service in the United States Senate. Any attempt to frame him as something other than a patriot is a sham.”
-Gov. John Silber
“When will Alan Keyes speak up for anyone outside of the Washington bubble?”
-Congressman Larry David
“We’ve got a prosperous future ahead of us, and Sam Nunn is the right captain to steer this ship.”
-Sen. Dave McCurdy
“We always hear talk from the GOP and the UFP about how they’ll fight for the working class. The difference with the Democrats is we do more than just talk.”
-Congressman Steny Hoyer
“The truth is, this isn’t 1980. If we can only look to the past, how can we make America strong?”
-Congressman Clarence Mitchell IV
“Alan Keyes appears to be all about making enemies; I’m all about making allies.”
-Sen. Sam Nunn
“Get ready America.”
-Poster for Alan Keyes’ End of History
“Michael Moore is someone who I respect for his passion and steadfastness, but his current documentary is nothing more than using a sick man to manipulate the American public.”
-President Alan Keyes
“If that negro says another word about me I’ll kick his ass.”
-Lee Atwater
“Get our researchers to look into everything about Michael Moore and anyone around him. I don’t want anyone to think about Sam Nunn and not see a fat socialist in a baseball cap.”
-Roger Ailes
“Perot and Keyes are beating you on both fronts. You got to toughen up for the next debate. We don’t want Dukakis 2.0.”
-Sen. Ted Kennedy in a phone conversation with Sam Nunn
“I had my doubts about voting for Perot, as I always thought of him as a bit loony; but looking at this debate, he’s the one that’s making sense.”
-Undecided voter
PEROT MAKES BIG IMPRESSION ON VOTERS
Ross Perot, who has managed to appear in the 1996 presidential debates through clever bargaining, has managed to use the debates to get his mixed left and right platform into the public limelight. While his performance has been controversial, it has turned some undecided voters into United Future stalwarts.
Keyes’ debate was mostly defensive, being under attack after comments were made by him by former RNC chair and Keyes campaign manager Lee Atwater. Keyes seemed to dismiss any comments made by Atwater, claiming that his illness has impacted him negatively. Instead, documentary filmmaker Michael Moore was the one receiving most of the blame from the president, with Keyes stating that “I will not let elitist talking heads boss me out of office.”
With two fiery candidates on the United Future and Republican fronts, Sam Nunn’s performance seemed lacking to many. Despite a commitment to be the “steady candidate,” Nunn appears to be outdone by Perot on domestic issues and Keyes on foreign issues.
-Washington Post, 10/6/96
“Let’s be real, there’s no way that Ross Perot is going to win this election.”
-Sen. Dianne Feinstein
“Sam Nunn has copied and pasted the Republican platform and positioned it as a reformist agenda. He’s supported the Keyes budgets, he supported banning same-sex marriage, he supported school prayer. The UFP is the only option if you really want to rebel.”
-Hunter S. Thompson
“KEYES CONTINUES TO HOLD LEAD IN SWING STATES”
-ABC News
“THOMPSON HAS BIZARRE PERFORMANCE AT VP DEBATE; HOYER HOLDS STRONG”
-Fox News, 10/9/96
“Winston Peters’ bizzare Alliance of New Zealand First, the SoCreds, Mana Motuhake, the Liberals, and the Greens has managed to overtake Labour (whose leader Helen Clark had a disastrous campaign) as the main opposition. In fourth and fifth were Jim Anderton’s NewLabour party and the Christian Democrats, who benefited greatly from the new MMP system. Negotiations have started to begin between Peters and Labour leader Helen Clark on a possible coalition government.”
-New Zealand Herald, 10/12/96
"WEINSTEIN COMPANY FOUNDER HARVEY WEINSTEIN ACCUSED OF RAPE"
-Fox News, 10/25/96
"Given that this piece of Democratic propaganda is created by an apparent serial rapist, I don't think we can trust any of Michael Moore and Lee Atwater's claims anymore."
-Sen. John Ashcroft
“Keyes and Nunn are the same candidate. We’ve got a race between them to see who can try and start World War III the fastest.”
-Ross Perot
“Alan Keyes is the one keeping the nation safe from foreign strongmen and domestic bureaucracy.”
-Keyes/Baker ‘96 campaign ad
