"You mentioned Ross Perot. Mr. Perot jumped into the race at the last minute, had one issue that he ran on, the budget deficit, was in and out of the race a couple of times, and still got 20 million votes, didn't have the Internet"
About this Quote
Ross Perot haunts this line like a ghost story told to terrify complacent professionals. Hamilton Jordan isn’t reminiscing; he’s running an argument: if a late-entering, single-issue, on-again/off-again outsider could pull 20 million votes in 1992 without the Internet, today’s political gatekeepers are playing defense with the rulebook from a different sport.
The intent is strategic, almost managerial. Jordan, a veteran of institutional politics, uses Perot as proof of concept for volatility: voter dissatisfaction can organize itself around one blunt metric (the deficit) and overwhelm the normal expectations of party loyalty, messaging discipline, even candidate stability. The list of Perot’s “flaws” is the point. “Last minute.” “One issue.” “In and out.” Each phrase reads like a disqualification in polite campaign circles, then Jordan flips it with the punchline: “still got 20 million votes.”
The subtext is a warning about media and technology before it’s a celebration of them. Perot’s success came through old-school mass communication, especially TV, and a cultural appetite for an outsider who sounded like a CEO scolding Washington’s bookkeeping. By stressing “didn’t have the Internet,” Jordan isn’t just marveling at tools; he’s implying that the conditions for an insurgency were already present. Digital networks would only lower the cost of mobilizing anger, fundraising, and identity politics.
Contextually, it’s a sober insider conceding that legitimacy is fragile. The electorate doesn’t need a fully formed movement. Sometimes it just needs a bill to be paid.
The intent is strategic, almost managerial. Jordan, a veteran of institutional politics, uses Perot as proof of concept for volatility: voter dissatisfaction can organize itself around one blunt metric (the deficit) and overwhelm the normal expectations of party loyalty, messaging discipline, even candidate stability. The list of Perot’s “flaws” is the point. “Last minute.” “One issue.” “In and out.” Each phrase reads like a disqualification in polite campaign circles, then Jordan flips it with the punchline: “still got 20 million votes.”
The subtext is a warning about media and technology before it’s a celebration of them. Perot’s success came through old-school mass communication, especially TV, and a cultural appetite for an outsider who sounded like a CEO scolding Washington’s bookkeeping. By stressing “didn’t have the Internet,” Jordan isn’t just marveling at tools; he’s implying that the conditions for an insurgency were already present. Digital networks would only lower the cost of mobilizing anger, fundraising, and identity politics.
Contextually, it’s a sober insider conceding that legitimacy is fragile. The electorate doesn’t need a fully formed movement. Sometimes it just needs a bill to be paid.
Quote Details
| Topic | Internet |
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