PEROT'S SILENCE ABOUT THE LAMM

By Laurence I. Barrett/Washington

"This is not about me," Ross Perot likes to say when asked if he will run for President again. As he tells it, his effort to establish a national Reform Party is about creating a vehicle to take the country to the promised land of balanced budgets, clean politics and democracy so pure that voters could veto tax hikes by referendum. Who would drive this bus to Utopia? Well, Perot has been scouting for someone he describes as "George Washington II." For months no one volunteered for that role. But now Richard Lamm, former Democratic Governor of Colorado, is auditioning, and Perot must decide whether to treat him as a protege or a threat.

Last week Perot maintained a studied silence while Lamm talked to anyone with a notebook or a microphone. "I'm going to try to be the candidate," he told TIME, but appended two huge, probably impossible conditions: that Perot "truly doesn't want to run" and that enough money can be found to finance a respectable campaign. But Lamm nonetheless last week gave up his job as a Democratic TV commentator. And he plans to court potential delegates of the new party at state gatherings so he can become the nominee at the August convention.

Lamm's dalliance with the Reform Party began with his appearance two weeks ago at its California conclave, where the audience devoured his assault on "generational malpractice." Said he: "Without unpopular reforms...the future of the American experiment stands in grave jeopardy." His credentials make him a credible spokesman for Perot's issues. During his 12 years in Colorado's statehouse, Lamm was called Governor Gloom because of his warnings about the need to tame entitlement programs such as Medicare.

In the unstable world of third-party politics, many local centurions originally attracted to Perot have grown skeptical that he's a suitable candidate. Unfortunately for Lamm, however, many of them now agree with Nicholas Sabatine of Pennsylvania, who as head of the National Patriot Party tried to woo several alternatives to Perot, including Colin Powell and Senator Bill Bradley. "I don't see anyone both willing and viable other than Perot," he concluded after a year.

Perot, as he often does, is giving mixed signals about his intentions. When he met privately with Lamm and Lamm's brother Tom, he was cryptic enough to send the siblings away with conflicting readings. Tom thought Perot could be taken at his word about preferring not to run. Richard saw a greater chance that Perot would seize the nomination.

Certainly, the Texan seems obsessed with the grinding process of getting the Reform Party on as many state ballots as possible. His operatives added North Carolina to the list last week, but that brought the total to only 13. In a marked change of strategy, Perot is seeking federal money for the Reform Party's ticket, at least in part because he wants to create a party that will outlast him. Under federal rules, if Perot gets 5% of the popular vote in this election, his party gains not only legal status but also the right to a federal subsidy in 2000 that would benefit a compatible successor. So far, the Federal Election Commission staff has decided that he personally would be eligible for a grant in this election of about $32 million based on his 1992 showing. But FEC lawyers have yet to rule on whether the Reform Party itself is entitled to a subsidy. In the meantime, Perot can beat his drum for his favorite issues and construct a grass-roots organization for the next century. That approach would at least allow Perot to tell himself that his 1996 campaign isn't really, in the end, about him.

--By Laurence I. Barrett/Washington. With reporting by Richard Woodbury/Denver

With reporting by Richard Woodbury/Denver