On the most frigid day so far of winter 2008 in New Hampshire, Mike Gravel has no trouble staying warm.

Driving around the Seacoast, the 77-year-old former senator from Alaska said yesterday he's the best hope for airing out the stink of corrupt Washington politics and restoring trust for the American people.

"Representative government is broken, broken, broken and there is no way it can be repaired within the confines of our current government system," he said.

He talks about it with a passion that causes the temperature around him to rise a few degrees.

Gravel is best known for forcing the release of the Pentagon Papers in the mid-1970s and helping to end the draft through a five-month filibuster. And while he brings up the rear in nearly every major poll coming out of early primary states, Gravel has no intention of giving up on his first foray into public office in a quarter-century.

"I don't see anybody who's running who empowers Americans or does anything more than politics as usual, and it's politics as usual that's gotten us into the mess we're in," Gravel said in an interview.

"I plan on remaining in the race as long as I can," he said during a Rotarian luncheon at the Red Hook Brewery in Portsmouth.

Gravel said he's running on a platform of power -- as in giving it to the American people by letting them vote as a mass electorate on what laws should be enacted.

"Would you trust the decision of a majority of nine people in black robes or the constituencies of the majority of 130 million people?" Gravel asked at the Red Hook Brewery in Portsmouth. "The answer is to empower you."

He put his argument in more historical terms prior to his appearance.

"I'm the only person running for President since the beginning of the country that advocates empowering the people to be able to make laws, as opposed to just voting for a political candidate," he said. "All they want to do is live in a big white house, and that's not going to solve our problems."

And to hear Gravel tell it, the United States is beholden to a "military-industrial complex" that feeds off continuous warfare. Education polices are "in the toilet."

"We're not number one in the world in any industry that counts, but we're number one in the number of people we put in prison and in weaponry. We're number one in delusion," he said. "This election is very serious. If we take another bad turn, then we will not be a major power a generation from now. We'll be looking up the rear end of the Chinese and Indians."

Gravel can come across as confrontational and even brusque.

Rudy Giuliani is a "Nazi." President Bush is an "idiot. He's not even smart enough to be a Nazi," Gravel said en route to Oyster River High School in Durham, where he met with a group of students.

Hillary Clinton is "Bush light" and Barack Obama is even more dangerous "because he raises expectations and really doesn't offer anything specific."

Traveling across New Hampshire in his gray 2004 Toyota Camry, Gravel keeps his vigor up by guzzling energy drinks and eating egg whites at lunches. He realizes the role age plays for voters in determining a candidate's viability.

"We're in a culture that reveres youth and inexperience, unfortunately," he said. "As a result of that, they just don't think you can win and therefore they're not prone to donate money to you. You're a day late and a dollar short."

Gravel said if elected President, he'd immediately declassify 95 percent of all federal documents, and would call for the complete withdrawal of American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan within 120 days of taking the White House.

But before he can do any of that, there's the small matter of actually winning -- and Gravel isn't under any illusions when it comes to that fight. He'll consider New Hampshire a victory if he can rise above other second-tier candidates.

"I've not been exposed to the large volumes of people, but one-on-one people seem very receptive to the thought of being empowered," Gravel said. "I don't see this reflected in the polls in New Hampshire, so I have no idea what my strength is" here. "Things are what they are, and I'll be guided by that."

Campaign officials say Gravel is hugely popular among the Internet generation, within minutes netting thousands of hits on YouTube as soon as new video of his appearances get posted.

"He's got the experience and what it takes to gather the country together," said Max DiSesa, a senior at Oyster River who turned 18 a week ago. "I really value his views."

Others expressed ambivalence or open curiosity at Gravel's campaign, but admired him for more subtle reasons.

"Obviously, he's not on TV every five minutes like everybody else, and I don't have to answer the phone for him every five minutes, which I appreciate," said Hampton resident Leo St. Martin, an independent voter leaning toward Republican John McCain.

Gravel knows it's that sort of mindset that will present the biggest challenge in his bid for the White House. That's why he left high school students with a simple suggestion to bring home with them.

"In 2008 in the state of New Hampshire, you've got a very critical decision coming up," he said. "See if your parents would just gamble and vote for me. Regardless of the spots you hear from Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, what counts is the people. You are smarter and better able to make the decisions to govern your life within the polity than your leaders are."