President-elect Bill Clinton has yet to spend a day in the Oval Office and already he is backing away from some of the promises he made while campaigning. This is hardly an original situation for a new president, but for a countless number of Americans hoping for change in the last election, it is not acceptable, either.

That’s why Ross Perot’s organization, United We Stand America, should be a welcome ombudsman for the federal government. Millions of first-time voters and voters who had had enough of politics as usual were drawn to Ross Perot in the November election. For a $15 annual membership fee, they now can carry forth the cause of reforming government through the leverage of that organization.

Make no mistake, part of what drives Mr. Perot is his desire to be noticed and praised. He is a top-notch self-promoter, but then, so are most politicians. And even if Mr. Perot’s bumpkin mannerisms are well-disguised slickness, his act makes him no less right about some of the problems that pervade government.

As with Mr. Perot’s presidential campaign, United We Stand America has yet to say exactly how it would achieve its worthy goals of creating a government that comes from the people — “not at the people” or making neighborhoods and streets safe from crime and violence. But the lack of specifics didn’t bother the nearly 20 percent of the voters in 1992, who cast their ballots for him, and it shouldn’t impede those who like the sound of his message. (To join the organization locally, by the way, contact United We Stand America, P.O. Box 2088, Bangor, Maine 04402, telephone 990-2222; or write to the group in Dallas at P.O. Box 6, Dallas, Texas, 75221.)

Mr. Perot claims he won’t use the organization as a means to build support for a run for president in 1996, although he has been known to change his mind on the matter. For now, at least, his new group should serve to keep an eye on the goings-on in Washington. Simple, right?