Executive Summary

The 1992 presidential election shattered the George Bush presidency and ended an era of Republican governance. It gave a "new kind of Democrat," Bill Clinton, the opportunity to forge a new Democratic coalition and a new era. Yet the collapse of Republican rule and the disaffection with politics have left many voters cautious about the new and clinging to Ross Perot. In this period of uncertain change, the Perot bloc represents an important indicator of our country's direction.

The Perot voters are deeply alienated and cynical about nearly all leaders and institutions -- political and economic. They are watching Bill Clinton to see if he succeeds, though they are predisposed to doubt the genuineness of anything that happens in politics. They fully expect a corrupt gridlock system to keep any leader from succeeding and helping people. Underlying that skepticism and pessimism are values and attitudes that present a distinct world view. This project offers a glimpse of that world and its meaning for our politics.

Methodology

This report is based on the largest national survey yet of Perot voters, 1200 interviews conducted across the country in proportion to the Perot vote in 1992 supplemented with a national sample of Bush and Clinton voters (800 interviews). The survey fielded April 12-19, 1993. This report also incorporates the findings of six focus groups with key segments of the Perot bloc: under 30 voters in San Bernardino, California; older non-college Perot voters in Bangor, Maine; and under 50, non-college voters in Akron, Ohio. The focus groups were conducted between May 13 and 18, 1993.

Key Findings

• The Perot bloc has considerable staying-power. Perot voters remain committed to their 1992 vote and, for the moment, want to stick with Perot in 1996 -even if he were to run as a Republican.
• Perot voters want to see their leaders cut waste and bureaucracy, search for efficiencies, limit special interest influence, and reform welfare.
• Democrats will win over Perot voters only when they are seen to represent the people and to oppose greed, privilege and special interests.
  
• The Perot bloc has a largely Republican voting history, but they are up for grabs and split evenly between conservatives and liberal/moderates.
  
• Perot voters are secular and libertarian and extremely uncomfortable with the social conservatism and Christian right dominance of the Republican Party. Perot and Clinton voters hold virtually identical views on abortion.