The Working Families Party generally supports mainstream candidates in high-level offices.

Other quirks of the new system might also favor less mainstream candidates.

Alaska has rarely decisively elected any mainstream candidate.

A result of this setup is that it is therefore more difficult for extremist or special interest groups to vote themselves into power or to influence mainstream candidates.

He failed to perform a thoughtful search for a mainstream candidate of unimpeachable character and credentials.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who came out of Super Tuesday a certifiably mainstream candidate, really is different this year.

"New Yorkers know the Lazio record and they know he's a mainstream candidate," Mr. Flood said.

But Kerry is a mainstream candidate and needs something that looks like a traditional candidate poster.

"It's important for people to know that I am the mainstream candidate and he is the extreme candidate," Mr. Del Vecchio said later.