I Don't Recall...

[Steely_Dan]

Didn't Ross Perot leave the race and then re-enter?

-Paige

[elleng]

1. Yes, and a bonus!

1992

The public's unease about the deficit and fears of professional politicians allowed the independent candidacy of billionaire Texan Ross Perot to explode on the scene in the most dramatic fashion—at one point Perot was the leader in the polls.<4> Perot crusaded against the national debt, tapping vague fears of deficits that has been part of American political rhetoric since the 1790s. His volunteers succeeded in collecting enough signatures to get his name on the ballot in all 50 states. In June, Perot led the national public opinion polls with support from 39% of the voters (versus 31% for Bush and 25% for Clinton).<5> Perot severely damaged his credibility by dropping out of the presidential contest in July and remaining out of the race for several weeks before re-entering. He compounded this damage by eventually claiming, without evidence, that his withdrawal was due to Republican operatives attempting to disrupt his daughter's wedding. His presence, however, ensured that economic issues remained at the center of the national debate.


1996

Once again millionaire Ross Perot threw his hat into the ring, this time with his newly created Reform Party. However, because of his eccentricities during the years following his 1992 run, many had grown disenchanted with him.

wiki

[frogcycle]

2. as long as we're musing on the out-of-the-ordinary

what if somone like Soros or Bloomberg took a hard look at the choices and said they would fund an independent run? Not running themselves, mind you, but just bankrolling it. Of course many would feel they were going to be obligated, and the candidate was theur stooge. But what if it was a coalition of billionaires of differing political persuasion? Throw Jobs, or Gates, or Richard Branson into the mix - freaking buy air time like there is no tomorrow, let the candidate (hmmm... of whom could I be thinking?) just sit in a studio and take calls like the talkradio folks do. The day before the election just say "oh, how about writing me in?"

kind of a nice pipedream, eh?

[gateley]

3. I don't think Joe would leave the Dem party. I don't know what I'm basing that

on, but that's what I think. :shrug:

[frogcycle]

5. yeah, I didn't say it was realistic :)

[PatSeg]

4. My daughter was having the same pipe dream

She had heard Biden comment on Late Edition about Bloomberg and said if he were the candidate there would be no reason to have a third party run.