"There's beginning to be an upswell among the grass roots in the party," said National Secretary Jim Mangia, who added that he's gotten dozens of e-mails from Perot supporters since the party's raucous committee meeting Saturday in Nashville.

"They want Perot," Mangia added.

If he ran, it would be Perot's third run for president on the third-party ticket after finishing with 19 percent of the vote in 1992 and 8.5 percent in 1996. He would face former Republican Pat Buchanan in a fight for the party's nomination and the $12.6 million in federal matching funds that come with it.

Such a challenge from the party's founder would not deter the conservative columnist, Buchanan said this week.

"Clearly, he would be a formidable challenger for the nomination," said Buchanan, who was publicly backed by Perot's 1996 running mate, Pat Choate, until Choate was picked Saturday to succeed Jack Gargan as chairman. Gargan was allied with Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, who broke from the party last week. Choate immediately resigned as Buchanan's campaign chairman.

Perot or no Perot, Buchanan said Monday, "we would go right ahead with our campaign for the nomination."

A third-party challenge by either man could have major impact on the presidential race by taking votes from the Democratic and Republican nominees.

The Texas billionaire's prospects this year were said by senior party officials to depend heavily on how well Sen. John McCain fares against Texas Gov. George W. Bush in South Carolina's GOP presidential primary on Saturday.

McCain, whose congressional crusade for campaign finance reform draws support from Reform Party members, could drain support from the third party's grass roots and make a Perot bid unappealing.

So popular is McCain among some factions of the Reform Party that there's even been talk of nominating him on the party's ticket -- even if he captures the GOP nomination. For his part, McCain has said he would only accept the Reform Party nod after winning the Republican nomination.

If McCain loses, the equation for the Reform Party changes because Perot sees South Carolina as a major test of McCain's long-term viability, the officials said.

Without McCain in the race, "Perot is the man who can carry the real reform message into November," Mangia said. "The Reform issues McCain is running on are the issues Ross Perot gave expression to in the 1992 and 1996 campaigns."

The senior officials said Perot could announce his candidacy the way he did in 1996, on CNN's "Larry King Live," as soon as next week -- depending on how McCain does in South Carolina.

As he has for months, Perot refused comment Wednesday. But the official closest to him, former National Party Chairman Russell Verney, said Perot is aware of the draft effort but is "busy with his business" and did not request the petition drive.

Verney declined to gauge Perot's interest in running for president, but said he "does not have any intention of appearing on Larry King Live."

Perot, 69, founded the Reform Party as United We Stand, America after his 19 percent showing as an independent candidate in 1992.

In 1996, he spent most of the $29.2 million he received in federal matching funds on long-format television time. He made an abbreviated campaign swing and never held a news conference.

Unable to maintain a high level of voter interest after he was excluded from the presidential debates between President Clinton and Republican Bob Dole, Perot recovered somewhat when Dole asked for his support.