 Perot participated in the first of three presidential debates for the 1992 election , on October 11 in Clayton , Missouri , along with President Bush and Bill Clinton . It was the first time that a third party candidate was involved in a national televised debate since John B. Anderson in 1980 , and was the first presidential debate to ever feature three candidates . During the event , Perot discussed a wide range of issues including the budget deficit , education and drug use , and proclaimed that as president , he would eliminate the influence of lobbyists . He also had a few memorable quips . When asked to address detractors ' criticism of his lack of government experience , he remarked : " Well , they 've got a point . I don 't have any experience running up a $ 4 trillion debt . " When discussing what would happen if one of his opponents won , he commented : " then they will have heard the harsh reality of what we have to do . I 'm not playing Lawrence Welk music here tonight . " After the debate , three out of four polls declared Perot as the winner . The average of all four showed Perot at 37 % followed by Clinton with 30 % and Bush with 18 % , but election polls still showed Perot in third with 14 % , far behind both Bush and Clinton . His running mate , James Stockdale , participated in a Vice Presidential debate in Atlanta , with fellow Vice Presidential nominee Al Gore and Vice President Dan Quayle . Largely unknown to the general public , Stockdale memorably opened the debate by unexpectedly asking the philosophical question , " Who am I ? Why am I here ? " He was unprepared to deal with some of the substantive issues raised , and his struggling performance may have damaged the Perot campaign . 
