PEROT SEEMS TO BE TAKING PAGES FROM '92 SCRIPT.

Byline: Associated Press 

Texas billionaire Ross Perot sought to dampen speculation about his political plans for 1996, insisting Friday that the work of his new Reform Party was not about his personal ambition.

"We don't in any way want this to be focused on any individual, and certainly not me," Perot said on CNN's "Larry King Live."

But four years after he turned the presidential race upside down, Perot appeared to be retracing his steps with a blitz of media interviews and speeches across the country in recent days.

And he couldn't help but look as if he was reprising his candidacy by returning to King's show, where he first announced his intention to seek the presidency in 1992. Never mind his insistence that "this is not about me."

After a wide-ranging interview, the irony wasn't lost on King: "I'll say this on a personal note," the host said, "if it ain't about you, this hour was about something."

Throughout the session Perot sought, in his inimitable way, to steer the talk to the government's failure to eliminate the federal deficit or reform major entitlement programs, such as Medicaid and welfare.

"We're like a person that's bleeding arterially," he said. "We've got to stop the bleeding."

He said the Reform Party would seek written commitments from the candidates it endorses that they will address Reform Party concerns and not engage in negative campaigning.

Perot vowed a "massive fund-raising" effort before the Reform Party's nomination of a presidential candidate in September and predicted that politicians would flock to its ranks once it wielded the clout of independent voters.

"The nation will be shocked how many people will leave the two existing parties to join the Reform Party," he said.

Again, Perot said he would prefer to see Democrats and Republicans fix the Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security systems and eliminate the budget deficit on their own.

But as hard as he tried to distance himself from the upcoming race, his syntax occasionally gave him away. Asked whether he would respond to negative campaigning by opponents with attacks of his own, Perot responded declaratively: "I didn't last time, and I won't this time."

In advance of Perot's appearance on CNN, his spokeswoman, Sharon Holman, said not to expect any announcements beyond what he has been saying most of the week - that he may run, but only if called by his followers.