WASHINGTON INSIGHT

PITCH FOR THE PEROTISTAS: A new poll taken to help President Clinton and other Democrats win over the 19% of the electorate who voted for Ross Perot in 1992 yields some hopeful news, according to its sponsors. The soon-to-be-released survey of some 1,200 voters shows that for backers of the Texas billionaire, cutting the deficit is not necessarily the be-all, end-all most analysts had thought. . . . Instead, according to Al From, president of the Democratic Leadership Council, which financed the poll, the Perot backers view the deficit mainly as a symbol of what really bothers them: a malfunctioning government. . . . “If Clinton is going to win over those voters, he is going to do it by radically changing government, by showing them government can do something good,” From said. And what do Perot backers want most from government? The 8 million jobs Clinton promised to create.