THE Reform Party candidate, Mr Ross Perot, shrugged off his crushing defeat in the US presidential race and vowed to "climb back in the ring" to force the main parties into balancing the budget and passing campaign finance reform.
As early results and television projections showed Mr Perot with less than 10 per cent support across the country, the feisty Texas billionaire urged his Reform Party supporters to keep the faith.
"We have to keep the pressure on, Mr Perot told hundreds of disappointed supporters in downtown Dallas on Tuesday night.
Mr Perot said the Reform Party had forced the issues of campaign finance reform and the need for a balanced budget onto the national agenda and would not allow them to be swept under the carpet.
Both major parties have recently called for a sweeping review of campaign reform, including an end to political contributions from foreigners.
Mr Perot said he would back President Clinton and Congress "all the way" if they push through the reforms he has campaigned for.
It was not immediately clear what Mr Perot planned to do with his fledgling Reform Party although senior aides said it would continue its work of building a viable third party alternative to the Democrats and Republicans.
Mr Perot won 19 per cent of the popular vote in his in dependent bid for the White House in 1992 but he failed to inspire angry or independent voters this time around.
He succeeded only in scoring the 5 per cent needed to guarantee the Reform Party federal funding at levels proportional to its share of the vote.
Mr Perot spent about $70 million (£43.8 million) of his own money in his 1992 White House bid but this year opted to accept $29.2 million (£18.3 million) of federal funds.