Perot Kicks Off Recruitment for Citizens’ Lobby : Politics: The Texas tycoon hopes his troop of watchdogs will keep an eye on Clinton, Congress and the deficit. He denies it will become a third party.

Texas billionaire Ross Perot launched a nationwide membership drive Monday intended to convert the organization behind his former presidential campaign into a grass-roots political watchdog group.

Perot said that the nonprofit organization, United We Stand, America, Inc., would not be a third party or a vehicle to promote his own interests. The $15-a-person enrollment fees required to join will be used to “give the people a voice” in monitoring the performance of President-elect Bill Clinton’s Administration and of Congress in reducing the federal deficit and getting the economy on its feet, Perot said at a news conference.

Perot told reporters, however, “I don’t have an unfulfilled dream” to be President and that “I would feel I had personally failed if I had to run again.” In view of the nation’s economic woes, “we don’t have four years to wait.”

“We want to recreate a government that comes from the people, not at the people. Our challenge is not to criticize the President or the Congress but to create an environment out here in grass-roots America--and, believe me, we will have a bullhorn.”

Perot said his group also would monitor some state political races, using Texas as a testing ground, and perhaps endorse some candidates. But Clayton Mulford, general counsel for United We Stand, said the organization would not make political contributions.

Clearly enjoying his re-entry into the national spotlight, Perot used a series of charts to emphasize reforms he hammered on during the campaign, such as deficit reduction, creation of well-paying jobs and the need for better health care.

Political consultants said Perot’s move to change his 11-month-old organization could position him for another race in 1996. Perot won nearly 20% of the presidential vote in November.

“I suspect his motive is for good government and what is good for Ross Perot,” said Democratic consultant Robert G. Beckel. He said he believes Perot “can’t stand the thought of being outside the public spotlight. And this will keep his presence felt in American politics.”

Bruce Buchanan, a political scientist at the University of Texas at Austin, said it would be difficult for Perot to leave the political scene. Noting Perot’s showing in the presidential race, Buchanan remarked: “Anybody who got 19.2 million votes has made a place for himself, no question about it.”

Charles Black, a Washington lobbyist who was a senior adviser in President Bush’s campaign, said Perot can make Clinton’s life difficult “if he gets behind causes that Clinton is not for.”

At his press conference, Perot avoided any criticism of Clinton beyond expressing disappointment that “special-interest lobbyists with alligator shoes and blow-dried hair” were advising his Cabinet nominees and that Commerce Secretary-designate Ronald H. Brown had come out of their ranks. Perot said he hoped that United We Stand would represent a countervailing force and help “to eliminate and diminish the effectiveness of special-interest lobbyists.”

Clinton spokesman George Stephanopoulos told reporters in Little Rock, Ark., that the President-elect has shown “a concern about openness in government, a concern about limiting the influence of special interests in government . . . by proposing a five-year ban on lobbying (at the conclusion of government service) and a lifetime ban on representing foreign governments.”

Perot said his movement would use a toll-free telephone number and a Dallas post office box to solicit subscriptions. He said he would personally finance the start-up costs of the membership drive, including a series of one-minute television commercials.

Jackson reported from Washington and Hart from Dallas.