ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, September 24, 1996 TAG: 9609240062
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
Ross Perot sued the bipartisan commission that voted to keep him out of the presidential debates, arguing Monday that excluding him would deepen public cynicism and cause his campaign ``incalculable damage.''
Shifting strategy, Perot also sought to buy network TV time to air three 30-second commercials denouncing the Commission on Presidential Debates. ``Where's Ross?'' asks an announcer in one. In another, the announcer asks, ``What are they afraid of?''
Both the private debate commission and the Federal Election Commission were named as defendants in Perot's suit, which insists that he be included in the debates or that the forums be canceled. The debate commission has prevailed twice before, when sued by third-party candidates in 1988 and 1992.
Perot's suit, filed in U.S. District Court, faults the debate commission's finding that he and running mate Pat Choate have no realistic chance of being elected.
``Declaring the election essentially over for all candidates but two before a single debate takes place will only deepen the nation's cynicism about government,'' it states.
The suit contends that the commission, in recommending debates limited to President Clinton and GOP candidate Bob Dole, violated federal election law and certain constitutional rights of Perot and Choate.
Presidential debates are scheduled for Oct. 6 in Hartford, Conn., and Oct. 16 in San Diego. A vice presidential face-off is set for Oct. 9 in St. Petersburg, Fla.
``We are going to fight this all the way to the end,'' said one of Perot's attorneys, Jamin Raskin, a professor of constitutional law at American University.
The lawsuit contends that the commission violated FEC rules requiring ``objective criteria'' for determining whom to include in debates. It faults the FEC for failing to enforce its rules.
Perot's lawsuit argues the debate commission used a mostly subjective standard in inviting only those it deemed to have a ``realistic chance'' of winning.
Perot meets objective tests such as assembling a national organization, being on the ballot in all 50 states and receiving nearly $30 million in federal campaign funds, the suit said.
``The Democratic and Republican parties should not be permitted to consolidate their monopoly on the political process by closing off the presidential debates,'' the suit states.
Furthermore, it says, Perot and Choate have been illegally barred from the debates, ``thereby causing incalculable damage to their campaigns.''
The debate commission had little comment. ``We're going to wait and see what the court does. Our attorneys will study whatever is filed,'' said commission spokesman Bob Neuman.
There was a chance the court would combine the lawsuit with one already filed by John Hagelin, presidential nominee of the Natural Law Party. A hearing in that case was scheduled for Thursday. Both cases were referred to Judge Thomas Hogan.
Clinton had urged that Perot be included in the debates, and Dole had pushed for his exclusion.
Dole, asked about Perot's lawsuit during a campaign appearance in Virginia, said only: ``He has a right to file. The commission voted. I didn't vote.''
Russell Verney, Reform Party national coordinator, told reporters that Clinton and Dole were equally to blame for the shutout. While the Clinton campaign publicly said Perot should be included, it privately negotiated to keep him out, Verney said.
``It's one more example of the fear the two major parties have toward creation of a third party,'' Verney said at a news conference on the courthouse steps.
Joe Lockhart, Clinton campaign spokesman, disputed Verney's account. ``We pushed very hard to have Mr. Perot included in the debate,'' he said.
The Texas billionaire, who participated in the 1992 debates, received 19 percent of that year's vote. Currently, he registers in the single digits in most national polls - a showing cited by the commission in denying him a debate spot this time.
The Perot campaign, unable to get prime TV time for its preferred 30-minute infomercials, released three 30-second ads protesting the commission's decision.
Verney said the campaign tried to purchase time for the 30-second spots on the three major broadcast networks, ABC, CBS and NBC, and was told no time was available this week. He said the campaign may buy time on cable networks or in local markets.
On a related matter, Perot's campaign said it plans to file a complaint with the FEC requesting that a $50,000 personal spending limit be waived to allow him to spend more of his own fortune on the race.
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines KEYWORDS: POLITICS PRESIDENTby CNB