The quest of Carol Moseley Braun

After taking on the war in Iraq, civil liberties, and healthcare here at New England College, Carol Moseley Braun steps out from behind the podium to deliver what is clearly a favorite line.

"The final reason to vote for me is that I'm the clearest alternative to George Bush," she says, turning on her signature smile and opening her arms wide to drive home the point. "I don't look like him. I don't talk like him. I don't think like him. And I certainly don't act like him."

The crowd, an eclectic mix of backpack-laden students, healthcare activists in purple T-shirts, and curious locals, laughs appreciatively. But a sense of restraint pervades the room, too. It's pouring rain outside, and many are just now drying off. And despite this being a presidential candidate, there is little novelty here. Ms. Moseley Braun is the sixth Democratic contender to pass through the college's Great Hall, jokingly referred to in Henniker (pop. 1,627) as "the launching pad of presidents."

In other words, it's a crowd you have to work for. But Moseley Braun, a longshot contender, has caught their attention.

It's a Sisyphean task that she undertakes with a singular determination at almost every stop, interview, and casual encounter - as though she knows that, as an African-American woman and a one-term senator under an ethical cloud, she has to work that much harder to be taken seriously.

"I'm convinced that given a chance to have a conversation with people, I'll prevail," she says, asserting what most Democrats consider an impossibility. "People are fair minded, they want to see progress, and that means my prospects for election are as good as anyone else's."

Besides finding a way to have that talk when suffering a dearth of campaign dollars, Moseley Braun finds her challenge complicated by her role as a symbol for some women and blacks and by her insistence on being taken seriously as a substantive candidate in her own right.

The result is that her presidential run is applauded in some quarters as courageous, and credited with bringing new perspectives into the race - even as her bid is dismissed as improbable. She recently lost two staff members, but they've been replaced by Patricia Ireland, the longest-serving president of the National Organization for Women, who brings 20 years of political experience and a vast network of fundraising contacts. Indeed, many women hungry for a political voice rally to her around the country - yet most admit they'll vote for others.

Moseley Braun's Democratic rivals in the race treat her with a polite deference, which in political circles is tantamount to being dismissed. She's raised so little money she often drives herself to events in a rented car, as she did this grim wet Wednesday in New Hampshire. Her first stop was an editorial-board meeting at the Concord Monitor. As she left, with a single staff member in tow, she was greeted by Gen. Wesley Clark, surrounded by his entourage, who'd emerged from an imposing SUV and was followed by a network crew.

Just the night before, Moseley Braun was glowing in the national limelight after her performance in the national Rock the Vote debate. Indeed, while she's lauded for her articulate, well-reasoned responses, she's usually no more than a footnote in news coverage, an "also ran," if she's mentioned at all. "Of the three who have no chance at all, she has been by far the most appealing," says political analyst Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia. "But she has absolutely no chance whatsoever."

Moseley Braun dismisses those dismissals. During an interview at a cafe in Boston, with a single staff member hovering nearby on a cellphone, she insists that despite widespread skepticism of her campaign's viability, she can be president.

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