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His wife, Janet, who works nights at a local nursing home, encouraged this candidacy. "It's an education for the children," she said. "We need to show the kids, because if we can't do it, maybe they can."

Johnnie McLean, chief deputy director of the State Board of Elections, sees outsider candidates every year.

"They feel for whatever reason that this is something they have to do," she said. "For a brief period of time, these candidates believe they can be elected and that they can make a difference."

The U.S. Constitution says that to run for Senate, one must be 30 years old, a citizen of the United States and a resident of the state he or she hopes to represent.

As such, Di Lauro is qualified. He had only to write a check for $1,652 -- 1 percent of a U.S. senator's salary -- to get on North Carolina's ballot.

State Elections Director Gary Bartlett is moved, sometimes, by candidates who apparently had to scrape together the money for the filing fee.

Once, a few years ago, a guy came in who didn't have a checking account, just hundreds of dollars in cash.

"They're willing to sacrifice because it's important to them," Bartlett said. "They have a firm belief in it. You know, that's their right."

But there's also the question of what drives such candidates.

Howard Staley tossed his name into the race against Dole -- albeit on the Democratic side -- because he didn't see anyone else jumping into the game. Then, when better-known people announced their candidacies, Staley decided to stick around.

A podiatrist from Chatham County, Staley doesn't like politics much. He ran for the U.S. Senate, he said, because he wasn't that interested in state or local issues. It was on the national level that he found his issues, the war and health-care reform among them.

And he doesn't consider himself a fringe candidate.

"Dark horse is the name I like," Staley said.

But he and others are on the fringes, in part because they can't raise money to get on the inside. Neither Staley nor Di Lauro expects to raise money.

Di Lauro predicts Dole will spend $5 million on her re-election campaign.

He's wrong: She has already raised at least $7 million.

Dole's campaign won't discuss her Republican opponent. The Halifax County Republican party chairman has never heard of Di Lauro. The state Republican Party chairwoman has never heard of him.

McLean wonders about candidates who do nothing more than get their names on the ballot, those who won't campaign or expend any effort to get their message to voters. Are they taking advantage of the process, running just to see their names in print?

"I think anyone running for office should know what is expected for that particular office, and they should be prepared to deal with that should they be elected," she said.

Duke University's Mike Munger thinks more people like Di Lauro ought to get the chance to run for office.

Munger is himself trying to get on the November ballot as the Libertarian candidate for governor.

"Who cares how many names there are [on the ballot]?" asked Munger, chairman of Duke's political science department.

Di Lauro may think he has an advantage in ballot position alphabetically, but he also knows polls have him hovering at 10 percent against Dole.

Political scientists say those numbers aren't about him; they're protest votes against Dole.

"Nobody takes independents seriously," Di Lauro says, back at his house as his kids play outside. "Nobody'll give you credit for anything. You're a joker. You're a schmo."

So why run?

"Why? Because it needs it," he says. "Because it's a job, because it has to be done."

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