Is Perot After The Presidency Or The President?

The crowd at the National Press Club on Mar. 18 had come to hear some plainspoken prescriptions for the nation's ills. But Texas business legend H. Ross Perot opened with a zing aimed at George Bush, asking listeners if they'd eaten their broccoli. "Last thing I read, it cures cancer," he said. "I think we ought to all try it."

Bush would probably rather eat a carload of his least-favorite veggie than see Perot get serious about his latest enthusiasm: an independent bid for the Presidency. The pint-size populist knows this is the longest of long shots. "Any student of history says this won't work," Perot concedes cheerfully. But the Dallas-based chief executive of Perot Systems Corp. has flashed a green light to supporters who want to get him on the ballot in all 50 states this fall.