 Throughout April , the draft efforts continued , and Perot appeared on talk shows , discussing his plans and positions on political issues . During an appearance on Larry King Live , Perot stated that he was closer to a decision on a potential campaign , and that he was willing to spend $ 100 million of his own money to finance it . On the Today Show he was interviewed by Katie Couric , and proposed to cut Medicare and Social Security for " people who don 't need it " . He appeared on Face the Nation later in the month , and argued that wealthy Americans should spend more than average Americans to eliminate the budget deficit . His budget numbers were contested by Tim Russert on Meet the Press , during a heated interview , after which , a frustrated Perot considered dropping out of the race . C @-@ SPAN ran a speech by Perot , where he announced that he hoped to run a campaign without " political pros " to avoid the " dirty tricks " of past campaigns . After this appearance , campaign consultant Ray Strother explained to Perot that professionals such as pollster Mark Penn were essential to a successful campaign . In late April , Perot hired former Chicago Tribune editor James Squires as press spokesman to handle the large volume of interview requests from the media . At the end of the month , Perot realized that he had spent too much time visiting talk shows , and announced that he would spend his next few weeks focusing on the issues . 
