They me be last in the so-called polls, but they certainly are not least in terms of their qualifications for the job.

After decades of having to choose between a roster of skull and bones fraternity freaks, next year Americans will finally have a chance to vote in an average American for President.

ONE is a Democrat, the other a Republican. They've never met but share much in common: Both wear dark suits and sneakers, for one. Neither has a lot of money. Both are running for president.

Mike Gravel and Ron Paul.

Mike and Ron.

Their names, sharing space at the bottom of the polls, seem increasingly linked. Each came out swinging in the debates and scored points for candor and quirkiness and, in Gravel's case, crankiness.

The oldest of the declared candidates, Gravel, 77, and Paul, 71, have become the campaign's upstarts. They've helped draw an audience that might otherwise not have tuned in to the earliest-starting primary season in U.S. history.

After the first debate, Gravel generated more Internet traffic than any other Democratic contender except Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.

Through much of June and early July, "Ron Paul" was among the top three most frequently searched terms on the Web. Paul's YouTube videos were viewed 2.3 million times.

So who are these guys? Can two old men in rubber shoes win their parties' nomination to be leader of the free world?

Mike Gravel, former senator from Alaska, has just flown in to Portland on a red-eye from Indianapolis.

He rode economy in a middle seat in row 25, landed in the City of Roses after 2 a.m., grabbed some sleep and strolled into the hotel restaurant just past 11 a.m. — the cutoff time for breakfast.

"Would there be any chance you could manage one more breakfast?" Gravel asks the gum-chewing hostess. "I'm sorry … " she begins. Then someone from behind whispers to her that this man is running for president. He's important.

The hostess looks the candidate over.

Gravel smiles at her like a man to a favorite grandchild. Was this the same person whom commentators, after the first debate, called cantankerous?

He wears the obligatory uniform of male presidential hopefuls, dark suit and tie, and looks top to bottom like a decent enough fellow, with his thinning white hair and rimless spectacles. The hostess glances at his shoes: black strap-on Velcro walkers.

She sighs. "This way," she says.

He orders eggs, hash browns and toast with honey. He talks about his flight. "My feet were hurting so bad I couldn't sleep," he says. His voice, coincidentally, sounds gravelly. Gravel (pronounced gruh-VELL, as in his old campaign slogan, "Give Hell, Gravel!") suffers from neuropathy and chronic back pain, so traveling can be agony. Meditation helps him. In-flight movies too.

At one point during the meal, a supporter, Deborah Petri, 38, who has driven down from Tacoma, Wash., to meet him, approaches to shake his hand. "You're my hero," Petri tells the candidate. "I love you."

She, like many other supporters, loves him despite his deficits — or perhaps because of them. His numbers in most national polls remain below 1%.

Broke, jobless and politically marginalized, Gravel can't help but relate to the struggling masses. He's one of them.

You have to be registered to read the rest of the article. But, hey - that's all we need to know:

That's precisely what Americans desperately need -

Get enthusiastic America - because these two men may be our last chance to save the republic.

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Thanks for the tip, Nepos!

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• Elections 2008
• Mike Gravel
• Presidential race
• Ron Paul

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