 The effect of Ross Perot 's candidacy has been a contentious point of debate for many years . In the ensuing months after the election , various Republicans asserted that Perot had acted as a spoiler , enough to the detriment of Bush to lose him the election . While many disaffected conservatives may have voted for Ross Perot to protest Bush 's tax increase , further examination of the Perot vote in the Election Night exit polls not only showed that Perot siphoned votes nearly equally among Bush and Clinton , but of the voters who cited Bush 's broken " No New Taxes " pledge as " very important , " two thirds voted for Bill Clinton . A mathematical look at the voting numbers reveals that Bush would have had to win 12 @.@ 55 % of Perot 's 18 @.@ 91 % of the vote , 66 @.@ 36 % of Perot 's support base , to earn a majority of the vote , and would have needed to win nearly every state Clinton won by less than five percentage points . Furthermore , Perot was most popular in states that strongly favored either Clinton or Bush , limiting his real electoral impact for either candidate . He gained relatively little support in the Southern states and happened to have the best showing in states with few electoral votes . Perot appealed to disaffected voters all across the political spectrum who had grown weary of the two @-@ party system . Perot 's anti @-@ NAFTA stance played a role in his support , and Perot voters were relatively moderate on hot button social issues such as abortion and gay rights . 
