G.O.P. LONGSHOT OFFERS A TOUCH OF THE RADICAL

There are times when Tom Campbell clearly relishes being the un-Republican Republican.

At such moments -- and he has had a lot of them lately -- Mr. Campbell, a congressman from Silicon Valley and the main contender to Dianne Feinstein's Senate seat this election, rolls up his sleeves and unleashes the poetry of a progressive heavyweight, his style and substance remarkably like that of a Jesse Jackson or a Mario Cuomo.

Face red with emotion, preppie shirt wilted by his intensity, acting nothing like the extreme longshot he is, Mr. Campbell sounded positively radical at the alternative "shadow conventions" in Philadelphia and Los Angeles. Standing on a podium as his own man, he railed against United States aid to Colombia in the midst of its civil war -- "this has Vietnam written all over it" -- called the criminal justice system unjust to minorities and lamented laws that send drug users to prison instead of into treatment.

He sounded nothing like a Republican, and not much like a New -- i.e. moderate -- Democrat, either.

And his audiences, mad-as-hell activists who will probably vote for the Green Party's presidential candidate, Ralph Nader, loved him for it.

And yet. And yet there are times, such as when he tried mustering enthusiasm for his party's presidential candidate, Gov. George W. Bush, during a recent interview ("He is a, uh, very nice guy") or when he said there was no compelling reason for a moratorium on the death penalty, or, especially, when he stresses small government and individual liberty, that the 47-year-old Mr. Campbell, a former constitutional law professor at Stanford University, sounds remarkably like a Republican Party animal.

Therein lies Mr. Campbell's problem. He is giving up his 15th Congressional district seat (which he held from 1988 to 1992, lost in his first go at the Senate, and then regained while a state senator in 1994) to try to make a case for himself against a popular Democratic incumbent. But his independent streak has thrown off what would be his core supporters. He is a moderate Republican who supports abortion rights in a state where conservative, anti-abortion Republicans rule the roost. Yet while Republicans might think him not Republican enough, Democrats and independents don't trust his party label.

It does not help his cause with them when he announces that he supports the positions of Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, the Supreme Court's two most conservative members.

And recent polls show he has a freeway's worth of ground to cover if he is to catch up with Ms. Feinstein, who first won her Senate seat in 1992. Earlier this month, a Public Policy Institute of California poll showed Ms. Feinstein with a 52 percent to 33 percent lead over Mr. Campbell among all voters and a 60 percent to 21 percent advantage among Latinos. Mr. Campbell has been so far behind in the polls that Ms. Feinstein has had the luxury of ignoring him completely.

He insists that the gap, based on a poll his campaign commissioned earlier this month, is narrower: 11 percent.

But California, where a healthy independent streak has Ralph Nader, the Green Party's presidential candidate, winning 8 to 10 percent of the vote, appears to favor Democrats over everyone else these days. It is one of only three states -- Hawaii and Maryland are the others -- where Democrats have a slight edge over the Republicans in party registration and control the governor's office, both Senate seats, the two state legislative chambers and the Congressional delegation.

Ms. Feinstein, a moderate who was once mayor of San Francisco, is acknowledged as the most popular elected officials in California. She garnered nearly one million more votes than anyone else on the March primary ballot, including Mr. Bush and Vice President Al Gore.

Mr. Campbell, who is generally soft-spoken and smiley, gritted his teeth when asked how he could counter his opponent's popularity. "That I am a maverick is right," he said in an interview before his Shadow Convention speech in Los Angeles. "I try to give my best on every issue. I think the voters appreciate that.

"I just have to get my message to the people," he added. "I believe the gap will close completely. Dianne isn't really popular; she just has widespread name recognition."

Mr. Campbell pointed to the popularity of Senator John McCain of Arizona, for whom the word "maverick" seemed made this year, to prove his point. But he omitted the fact that Mr. McCain lost his bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

Indeed, this does not appear to be the year for maverick Republicans who stray from the party platform to run for office. Not when the party, as its convention showed, wants to show the country one big happy compassionate conservative face.

One California Republican Party insider, who asked not to be quoted by name, said Mr. Campbell had left the party scratching its head on a number of occasions. Those include the times Mr. Campbell has teamed up at press conferences with the Green Party Senate candidate, Medea Benjamin, to criticize the war on drugs, call for campaign finance reform, denounce the war in Kosovo and try to force Ms. Feinstein into a debate. "The guy is all over the place," the insider said. "You're not sure whether he's helping the party or hurting it."

Mr. Campbell insists he has the full, enthusiastic support of the Republican Party. But he was booed at the state Republican convention earlier this year when he mentioned abortion rights. And a letter he wrote to federal and state lawmakers who support abortion rights asking them to advance an abortion rights agenda at the Republican National Convention may have cost him a speaking slot there.

Then there is money. Ms. Feinstein's war chest, more than $8.5 million, makes Mr. Campbell's $3.5 million look like lunch money. "If we had $10 million I just know we could beat Feinstein," said Sean Walsh, Mr. Campbell's campaign spokesman.

The wonder is why Mr. Campbell, who made a name for himself ("Mud" as far as the Republican Congress was concerned) by amassing the most liberal voting record of any Republican from California, did not run for the Senate in 1998. His chances seemed stronger against Barbara Boxer, a liberal Democrat from San Francisco who was battling for re-election. Mr. Campbell's outspoken opposition to the re-election of House Speaker Newt Gingrich, whom he called a liar, stunted his chances for advancing through the leadership ranks as long as Mr. Gingrich's allies remain in power.

And to make matters worse for his party, Mr. Campbell's seemingly suicidal Senate bid is leaving his House seat vulnerable to takeover by the Democrats.

Mr. Campbell does not offer long explanations for why he entered the race.

"I ran this time because I knew I could win the primary," he said.

Democrats are treating his candidacy as though they were flitting their fingers at a gnat -- a nuisance hardly worth mentioning.

"He doesn't have the widespread support or name ID," said Art Torres, the chairman of the California Democratic Party. "His candidacy seems to be an afterthought -- a nice way to end his political career."

Lately, Mr. Campbell has been courting Latino voters with television ads criticizing Ms. Feinstein on immigration policy. The commercials accuse Ms. Feinstein of being late to oppose Proposition 187, the 1994 ballot measure that sought to eliminate state benefits, including medical care and education, to illegal immigrants. The measure, heavily opposed by Latinos, passed but has been ruled unconstitutional.

Ms. Feinstein's campaign manager, Kum Kawata, has dutifully refuted Mr. Campbell's assertions.

Ms. Feinstein hasn't really bothered. But Mr. Campbell insists that come Nov. 7 voters will know him and like him and want him as their senator.

"Oh, I'm going to win," he said, smiling like someone about to battle a five-alarm fire.