GREENSBORO - There is an air of inevitability about state Sen. Kay Hagan. She has been recruited by the national party, her campaign literature includes the blessings of the governor, and she has earned her spurs at the legislature.

"I'm the one with experience," Hagan told a group of Elon University law students in Greensboro one night recently. "I'm the one with ability to beat Elizabeth Dole."

But Jim Neal, a Chapel Hill investment banker, is hoping to change the story line of the Democratic Senate primary on May 6. He is running a grass-roots, Internet-heavy campaign as a fresh, nonpolitical voice that represents real change.

"We present as candidates very radically different [choices]" Neal said in an interview. "Kay has been part of a process. She has been a politician."

So far, the Democratic Senate primary candidates have struggled to get attention -- overshadowed by a high-energy governor's race and a dynamic national presidential contest. The conventional wisdom among political insiders in Washington and Raleigh is that Dole, one of the best-known women in American politics, will be difficult to defeat.

A poll released recently suggested that more than half of likely North Carolina Democratic voters had not made up their minds on their choice to run against Dole, the Salisbury Republican who is seeking a second term. But among those who have decided, Hagan leads Neal by more than a 2-1 margin.

The Democratic Senate candidates portray Dole as an absentee senator. One Democratic activist, Hayes McNeill, even created a campaign button with a facetious AMBER Alert for Dole -- a bulletin for abducted children. But McNeill, like some other Democrats, has yet to be overly impressed by any of Dole's potential Democratic opponents.

"I don't think anybody likes her [Dole] much," said McNeill, a former Forsyth County Democratic chairman. "But the [Democrats] have not gotten any kind of visibility."

Sluggish start

Both candidates, but especially Neal, have been campaigning across the state. Both are hiring staff for their campaign headquarters -- Hagan in Greensboro and Neal in Durham. Both have hired consultants and have been busy raising money.

But with two months before the primary, there have been no TV or radio advertisements, no debates, not even any joint appearances.

From the beginning, North Carolina Democrats found it hard to jump-start the Senate campaign. They found it difficult to find someone to challenge Dole, a former federal transportation and labor secretary, former American Red Cross president and former presidential candidate.

Some of the state party's bigger names, including Gov. Mike Easley, Attorney General Roy Cooper and U.S. Rep. Brad Miller, took a pass on the race.

Both Neal and Hagan argue that the public has tired of Dole and is looking for a fresh voice. But Hagan and Neal are offering different appeals to voters.

Contrasting platforms

Neal talks about being an outsider. Hagan stresses her ability to operate the levers of government. Neal is running to Hagan's left, while Hagan is running as more of a centrist.

Both candidates oppose the war in Iraq. But Neal is calling for a cutoff of congressional funding, while Hagan is looking for a diplomatic effort to wind down the war. She does not favor a timetable for U.S. withdrawal.

Both want to expand health care. Neal is calling for a universal health-care plan, while Hagan likes the idea but wants to see how such a plan would be financed before backing it. Neal has said he would have voted against confirming Attorney General Michael Mukasey because of his position on torture, while Hagan said she did not know how she would vote.

Neal, 51, compares some of Hagan's positions to those of Dole.

"The election will be about contrasts," Neal said. "The election is not about a state senator who is a Democrat running against a Republican senator who [is] saying basically the same thing. That is one of the critical differences between us."

Mainstream Democrat

Hagan, 54, is well within the Democratic Party's centrist, pro-business mainstream.

A former ballet dancer, banker and lawyer, she rose in the male-dominated state legislature to become co-chairwoman of the powerful Senate budget committee. Hagan is a seasoned political veteran, the niece of former Florida Gov. Lawton Chiles and the former Guilford County chairwoman of Gov. Jim Hunt's campaigns. Her campaign brochure includes praise from Easley. She has been endorsed by the N.C. Association of Educators, the state's major teachers advocacy group.

One of her favorite words is "pragmatic." She touts her ability to get things done, to move legislation and to work with lawmakers of different stripes and parties. She says she wants to take her legislative experience with balancing budgets and improving education and health care to Washington.

"I really think Washington keeps coming up short, and we in North Carolina do things the right way," Hagan said.

Hagan has some crossover appeal to voters such as Jim Jones, 72, a retired Winston-Salem city worker. Jones says that in 2004 he put up 10,000 yard signs for Republican Richard Burr, now Dole's colleague in the U.S. Senate. But Jones is disenchanted with Dole and switched to the Democratic Party, in part to help Hagan.

"I think she [Hagan] has the best chance of winning," said Jones. "You have to have someone who can raise $15 million to $20 million to compete."

Hagan has raised $562,000, according to campaign finance reports, while Neal has raised $214,000 including $120,000 he loaned his campaign. Neal said he cannot afford to loan his campaign any additional money. Those figures pale in comparison to the $4.8 million that Dole had raised by the end of last year.

A nonpolitical voice

Although Neal, a former junior tennis star, was reared in Greensboro, he has lived much of his adult life in New York, Los Angeles and elsewhere as he made a career in finance. He moved back to North Carolina in 2006.

While this is his first time as a candidate, he is not a political novice. He helped raise money for the U.S. Senate campaign of Erskine Bowles and the presidential efforts of Wesley Clark and John Kerry.

Neal appears to be making more campaign appearances than Hagan. In late February, he said he had logged 2,500 miles driving to events around the state. He has hired David Salie, who headed former presidential candidate Howard Dean's house party program, to hold a series of house parties for his campaign.

As the state's first openly gay Senate candidate, Neal has been able to tap into gay fundraising networks.

There has been a sharp learning curve for Neal, who has had to introduce himself to many Tar Heel political leaders. But his animation and passion on the campaign trail -- and his stressing national issues more than Hagan -- are picking up the support of some activists.

"I know he doesn't have political experience, but I like the idea of a fresh face," said Anne Wilson, 65, a retired Winston-Salem schoolteacher who is backing Neal.

But his decision to run so soon after returning to North Carolina does not sit well with some voters. It reminds them of Dole, who was long absent from the state before winning her Senate seat in 2002.

Among them is Carie Vickery, 21, the president of the Elon [University] Law School Democrats, who is supporting Hagan.

"I think it would be a huge benefit to have someone from North Carolina," Vickery said, "not just moving back to get elected."

(Researcher David Raynor contributed to this story.)