BIO: The cartoon that appears on each press release of Lamar Alexander's campaign just about says it all. A tortoise sporting a red and black plaid shirt cheerily hikes down a long, winding road. Lounging in the grass nearby is a hare, arms folded behind his head, grinning complacently.

Lamar Alexander, a former Republican governor of Tennessee, doesn't -- couldn't -- try to conceal the fact that he is lagging far, far back in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. David Letterman joked that in a recent poll, three of four members of Alexander's family had never heard of him. Alexander is not only miles behind front-running Senator Bob Dole, but other candidates like conservative commentator Patrick Buchanan and millionaire publisher Steve Forbes Jr. are eclipsing him.

Instead, the 55 year old Alexander paints himself as the tortoise, the likable, slow and steady racer who beats the smug hare in the end. And though his numbers are low, there are a lot of reasons why Alexander could succeed. He relentlessly drums home the theme that, unlike major competitors, such as Dole and Senator Phil Gramm of Texas, he is an "outsider," not a creature of Washington. He runs as a former governor just as states' rights and the transfer of power from Washington to governors has become highly fashionable. To underscore this outsider image, Alexander wears his trademark plaid flannel shirt. To emphasize his grass-roots, common touch, Alexander recently walked the state of New Hampshire to greet voters, a tactic he first used in his successful 1978 race for Tennessee governor.

But critics contend that Alexander's outsider image is a charade. His first stint in Washington was working for his mentor, the legendary Tennessee Senator Howard Baker Jr. After his gubernatorial term, during which he won praise for education reform and boosting the state economy, Alexander returned to DC in 1991 as Secretary of Education -- a position he now wants to eliminate -- under President George Bush. And his catchy Congress-bashing slogan, "Cut Their Pay and Send Them Home," doesn't ring so true now that Republicans run Congress and have stolen much of Alexander's "devolution" thunder. Also, some suggest that with voters accustomed to dramatic sound-bites, Alexander's tendency to argue that most decisions should be left to the states might leave little issue substance on which voters can judge him.

Still, Alexander began organizing his campaign many months ago, and is at the very front of the pack in the fund-raising and organization categories. There has long been a reasonable current of thought that Alexander is the true dark horse of the campaign, and should Dole falter, Lamar will be right there. Here's a look at some of Alexander's positions on the issues:

WELFARE REFORM: A major item on Congress' menu this year, welfare reform is also a key issue for Alexander. It highlights his strong belief in returning federal programs to the state level, where governors and local communities can make the important decisions. As the self-styled "Washington outsider," Alexander argues that states, if given the chance, can do just about anything for themselves better than the federal government. A bill currently being negotiated in a House-Senate conference would do just that, by "block-granting" federal money for programs like Aid for Families with Dependent Children, to the states to spend largely as they wish. An example of Alexander's vehement support is his disagreement with Congressional proposals that would require states to deny benefits to mothers who have children while on welfare; he supports the idea, but doesn't like any federal restrictions on the states.

MEDICAID: Medicaid is another program that Congress is reforming in ways Alexander likes. The federal program that provides medical care for 32 million poor, elderly, and disabled Americans has become the target of over $180 billion in cuts by the Republican Congress. A central element of Congress' proposed reform is block-granting of Medicaid to the states, an idea Alexander has long endorsed, originally as part of his proposal for welfare reform.

ABORTION: While Alexander opposes abortion ... you guessed it: he thinks it is an issue for the states to decide. The federal government should "stay entirely out of it," he has said. He says he would like to see state efforts to legislate against abortion, however, he does not support a constitutional amendment outlawing the procedure. This position could be risky, as his abortion opposition may not be enough to satisfy pro-lifers, yet too much for pro-choice Americans. He does not think public funds should be used to fund abortions (they currently do not), but would allow states to decide whether to use block-granted Medicaid funds for that purpose.