Perot Returns to Political Trail and Blisters Clinton : Politics: In Maine, he vows to recruit millions to his organization. He blasts ‘squeamish’ reforms pushed by Administration and Congress.

Ross Perot vowed Saturday to recruit millions to his political organization, promising it would be dedicated to populist causes rather than personal gain or attacks. Yet he aimed several pointed barbs at the new Clinton Administration.

Perot staged three rallies in Maine as he made his first political appearances since Clinton’s inauguration, urging people to join United We Stand, America Inc.--the committee formed from his campaign apparatus--and choosing this state to make his pitch because his second-place finish here was his best showing in the November election.

Three weeks after the inauguration, Perot spoke as if the last campaign were still going on--and the next one already under way.

A supporter held a “Perot ‘96” sign at his final rally in Portland, and many of the Perot voters said they hoped he would challenge Clinton in four years.

“We’re getting organized for the long haul,” Perot told 1,500 people in Portland, crediting his campaign with making the federal deficit a front-burner issue for Clinton.

At stops in Orono, Rockland and Portland, Perot spoke to a combined audience of about 4,500 people, railing against deficit spending, the influence of money and lobbyists in politics and the perks of power in Washington, from free airport parking to free health insurance.

He promised repeatedly to get to the “fine print” and spell out his solutions but never really did--outside of repeating his support for a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution and a ban on government officials going to work as foreign lobbyists.

Instead, Perot revived many familiar slogans of his independent presidential campaign, which received 19% of the vote nationally and 30.4% in Maine, where Perot edged out George Bush for second place. Perot urged his supporters to work “all for one and one for all,” denouncing lobbyists in “$1,000 suits and alligator shoes.”

He also revived one of the contradictions of his historic campaign, saying that politics has been debased by personal attacks. “I don’t want to criticize anyone,” he said, calling his an organization of “idealistic, selfless patriots.”

But a few minutes later, he delivered pointed criticisms of the new Administration.

Perot said United We Stand, America Inc. needed to mobilize in support of campaign finance reforms and other changes because Clinton and Congress were pushing a “soft, squeamish reform package now.”

And, the morning after a second candidate for attorney general, Kimba M. Wood, withdrew from consideration because of her hiring of an illegal immigrant, Perot denounced the “arrogance” of those he said are trained in the law yet consider themselves above it.

Perot’s trip to Maine comes as United We Stand, America Inc. launches an aggressive membership drive that includes mailings to Perot supporters and television ads featuring the Texas billionaire.