A long-shot candidate is Andrei Kokoshin, the first deputy defense minister, a civilian.

Is public financing meant for such long-shot candidates?

Mr. Albanese, who is viewed as one of the long-shot candidates, said he was not daunted by his fund-raising efforts, which have raised just $315,000.

Unlike most long-shot candidates, Mr. Bradley does not accept invitations to appear on cable television shows.

Ms. Castro, 50, had trouble raising money, in part because she was seen as a long-shot candidate.

If they battle evenly through next spring, however, it could create an opening for a long-shot ideological candidate.

And in the dreamy calculus of a long-shot candidate, anything that happened once can happen again.

Woods also sought the Democratic nomination for President in 1992 as a long-shot candidate.

The media spin is that his announcement illustrates how long-shot candidates milk attention by dragging out their announcements.

And among the long-shot candidates, the Massachusetts governor has a singular advantage.