The truth is that you can't get away with running as a protest candidate when you've already been in office for 12 long years.

He easily won reelection, although many Republicans voted for a protest candidate instead of supporting him.

Nobody has a better claim to be a protest candidate.

On the face of it, Bachmann is a classic right-wing protest candidate.

I ran strictly as a protest candidate and knew there was no chance of my winning.

He is no longers a protest candidate and instead is a central figure in the Democratic race.

As a protest candidate, he can attract public attention only through his most uncompromising and outrageous rhetoric.

He had campaigned as a protest candidate and anti-corruption watchdog.

This time, he said, he is not merely a protest candidate.

He described himself as a protest candidate in the 2002 mayoral election, claiming "there has to be a socialist opposition".