For the Record

■ As the Ross Perot campaign chugged toward the official announcement of his candidacy—reportedly set for his birthday, June 28—it continued to swell. Latest recruit is the London advertising firm of Saatchi & Saatchi, which has been asked to submit plans for Perot’s $100-million campaign budget. Possible snag: the Saatchis, who masterminded John Major’s upset win in Britain earlier this year, may have to clear the deal with the Conservative Party. . . . There will be no formal Perotist convention, since he has no formal party. But Hamilton Jordan and Ed Rollins, his Democratic and Republican PR recruits, are thinking of a monster rally in the Rose Bowl to start him off. . . . Although Perot talks about religious values, it took a while for the press to wonder what church he belongs to. Strong rumor had him a Roman Catholic, but his press office says he’s Presbyterian. . . . Perot has failed to get backing of D.C. conservative bellwether Human Events. “From Perot’s own statements,” said HE, “it is far from clear that he has a genuinely conservative or workable approach to any major issue.” . . . Pat Buchanan, battling to hold on to his 78 delegate votes so he can speak at the Republican Convention in August, had some passing praise for Perot: “The very same spirit with which my candidacy was launched lives on in the Perot movement.” . . . But Buchanan is not back in the graces of the GOP hierarchy. In response to a suggestion that the commentator-candidate might speak on prime time at the Houston Convention, campaign spokesman Torie Clarke offered this measured pronouncement: “He has to get down on his hands and knees and grovel on broken glass with his mouth open and his tongue hanging out and then we’ll talk.” … Maybe the RNC feels it doesn’t need Buchanan. At a private—but not off-the-record—gathering in New York hosted by conservative former mayoral candidate Ron Lauder, RNC chairman Rich Bond referred to the “partnership between Ronald Reagan and George Bush.” Asked whether Reagan planned to play an active role at the Houston Convention, Bond played his trump card: Yes—as the first speaker Monday evening.

■ The Democrats, meanwhile, have nearly faded from sight, though their convention next month should get them some ink and air time. After Perot’s raids on Bill Clinton’s potential constituency, says Wall Street Journal editorial-page editor Bob Bartley, all Clinton is left with is “radical feminists, blacks, gays, and enthusiastic unionists.” . . . Evans & Novak report that dispute in Clinton camp nearly led to campaign manager David Wilhelm and others resigning. Wilhelm & Co. argue for a broad appeal, as opposed to full embrace of the left wing, which Hillary advises. . . . Even more on the outside is Mario Cuomo, once the hero-for-President of the liberal press. No one has asked him to be Clinton’s running-mate, he told commentator Ken Auletta. He hasn’t even been asked to speak at the Democratic Convention in his own city. … Is Dan Quayle the only one who remembers that Cuomo is there? The Vice President, speaking in New York last week, compared the Democrats holding their convention in that liberal testing ground to a criminal returning to the scene of the crime.

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■ As the Ross Perot campaign chugged toward the official announcement of his candidacy—reportedly set for his birthday, June 28—it continued to swell. Latest recruit is the London advertising firm of Saatchi & Saatchi, which has been asked to submit plans for Perot’s $100-million campaign budget. Possible snag: the Saatchis, who masterminded John Major’s upset win in Britain earlier this year, may have to clear the deal with the Conservative Party. . . . There will be no formal Perotist convention, since he has no formal party. But Hamilton Jordan and Ed Rollins, his Democratic and Republican PR recruits, are thinking of a monster rally in the Rose Bowl to start him off. . . . Although Perot talks about religious values, it took a while for the press to wonder what church he belongs to. Strong rumor had him a Roman Catholic, but his press office says he’s Presbyterian. . . . Perot has failed to get backing of D.C. conservative bellwether Human Events. “From Perot’s own statements,” said HE, “it is far from clear that he has a genuinely conservative or workable approach to any major issue.” . . . Pat Buchanan, battling to hold on to his 78 delegate votes so he can speak at the Republican Convention in August, had some passing praise for Perot: “The very same spirit with which my candidacy was launched lives on in the Perot movement.” . . . But Buchanan is not back in the graces of the GOP hierarchy. In response to a suggestion that the commentator-candidate might speak on prime time at the Houston Convention, campaign spokesman Torie Clarke offered this measured pronouncement: “He has to get down on his hands and knees and grovel on broken glass with his mouth open and his tongue hanging out and then we’ll talk.” … Maybe the RNC feels it doesn’t need Buchanan. At a private—but not off-the-record—gathering in New York hosted by conservative former mayoral candidate Ron Lauder, RNC chairman Rich Bond referred to the “partnership between Ronald Reagan and George Bush.” Asked whether Reagan planned to play an active role at the Houston Convention, Bond played his trump card: Yes—as the first speaker Monday evening.

■ The Democrats, meanwhile, have nearly faded from sight, though their convention next month should get them some ink and air time. After Perot’s raids on Bill Clinton’s potential constituency, says Wall Street Journal editorial-page editor Bob Bartley, all Clinton is left with is “radical feminists, blacks, gays, and enthusiastic unionists.” . . . Evans & Novak report that dispute in Clinton camp nearly led to campaign manager David Wilhelm and others resigning. Wilhelm & Co. argue for a broad appeal, as opposed to full embrace of the left wing, which Hillary advises. . . . Even more on the outside is Mario Cuomo, once the hero-for-President of the liberal press. No one has asked him to be Clinton’s running-mate, he told commentator Ken Auletta. He hasn’t even been asked to speak at the Democratic Convention in his own city. … Is Dan Quayle the only one who remembers that Cuomo is there? The Vice President, speaking in New York last week, compared the Democrats holding their convention in that liberal testing ground to a criminal returning to the scene of the crime.