Perot to Air 30-Minute Ad Today on ABC

DALLAS —  Ross Perot plans to mix his homespun message with his ever-present charts today in a paid 30-minute TV advertisement for his presidential campaign.

Perot, who is running as a Reform Party candidate in some states and as an independent in others, will appear in his first television ad this political season this evening on ABC.

As he did in his independent presidential bid in 1992, the Texas billionaire urges voters to consider the country’s debt.

“Going into the Great Depression of the 1930s, our government was a major asset because it was financially strong. Today our government is over $5 trillion in debt,” he says in the ad. “Most of this debt has been accumulated in the last 15 years.

“How big is $5 trillion? It exceeds the total amount of currency in print. Even Forrest Gump can understand that this is too much debt.”

Perot says the country’s financial condition is precarious because U.S. assets are $2.3 trillion and liabilities are $5.3 trillion, leaving the nation with “a negative net worth of about $3 trillion.”

“In plain talk, we’re bankrupt,” he declared.

With slightly more than two months to go before the presidential election, Perot is beginning his campaign a distant third behind President Clinton and Republican nominee Bob Dole.

Perot, who announced that he would run in July while appearing on CNN’s “Larry King Live,” plans to devote a great deal of his time to television.

A second infomercial will air Sept. 5 following “Nightline” on ABC.

The subject matter of that show and the costs of the ads have not been released.