There were a lot of them once--ringing doorbells in small Iowa towns to peddle themselves like some new kind of Fuller Brush; standing knee-deep in New Hampshire snow banks, smiles frozen in place; shaking the hands of factory workers until their fingers went numb; giving speech after speech after speech until their voices cracked; eating creamed chicken until they could take it no more; talking about momentum, strategy, winning and losing--especially losing.

They are the also-rans, the men who sought their party's nomination but didn't get it--the men who, back in 1978 and 1979, thought they had a chance in 1980, only to have those hopes dashed by repeated primary losses, public disdain or simple bad luck. They are the men who, after campaigning in earnest for months, realized on that Wednesday morning after the latest primary defeat or on that Saturday afternoon after another abysmal showing in a caucus that the support they never had really wasn't there.

But they are not pitiable characters, these also-rans. Although they abandoned the rigors of their hopeless primary battles they have remained active in other ways, carrying out their duties as senators, congressmen, and governors, campaigning for re-election as senators, congressmen and governors, or--especially in this election year--travelling around the country insisting that the man they called incompetent, incapable and insufferable six months ago is now eminently worthy of the presidency.

Take Sen. Edward M. Kennedy '54 (D-Mass.), for example, the most prominent also-ran of this election. Kennedy lost to President Carter in 24 of 34 primaries during which he chastised the president for, among other things, lack of leadership, abandoning the principles of the Democratic Party, being a Republican in disguise, and displaying cowardice for not debating. There was no political love lost between these two.

But now, two-and-a-half months after he lost the final battle against Carter, Kennedy is out on the campaign trail again, proclaiming that the president deserves four more years. "He has a conviction that Carter would be a better president than Reagan," Richard Drayne, Kennedy's press secretary says, providing an explanation for the senator's vocal support.

The Carter people, thrilled by any show of enthusiasm for the president from his former rival, have asked Kennedy to campaign most heavily in the areas where he did well in the primaries. One Carter campaign official predicts that Kennedy's active support will make a big difference in California, the Northeast, and major cities, and with labor, Blacks, and other minorities. While on the campaign trail for the president, Kennedy refrains from opening old wounds by "concentrating on those areas of policy in which he and Carter are in substantial agreement," Drayne says.

Unlike the Democrats, the Republicans had no major scars to heal after the primary battles ended. Most of Ronald Reagan's former rivals are now actively and wholeheartedly supporting him as they have since last spring, when GOP unity love-ins were in vogue.

The Reagan people knew they had a tremendous resource in their candidate's former rivals. "We have a blank check in terms of the time these men have available for us and the energy they are willing to invest. This kind of equanimity is highly unusual for us, and we intend to play it for all it is worth," Sen. Paul Laxalt (R-Nev.), Reagan's campaign chairman, said last summer after the harmonious convention.

And most of the Republican also-rans have come through to some degree. Sen. Howard H. Baker (R-Tenn.), for instance, while concentrating his efforts on helping Republican congressional candidates in 26 states, has travelled around the South stumping for the man who heads the ticket. He accompanied Reagan on two campaign swings through Tennessee earlier this fall and will take one last flying tour of the state on Reagan's behalf this weekend.

Former Gov. John B. Connally, who spent $11 million during his 13 1/2-month bid for the nomination only to win one delegate, has been criss-crossing Texas to help Reagan capture the state's crucial 26 electoral votes. Benjamin Fernandez, an also-ran even before he started running for the Republican nomination, thinks Texas' electoral votes are so crucial that whoever wins them will win the election.

To help Reagan with Texas, Fernandez, a California millionaire businessman, has been concentrating on the state's large Hispanic population. "I told the party I don't want to talk with Republicans; I want to go to the barrios," Fernandez says. And he has, visiting 15 Texas cities in six days last week to sway the 35-per-cent of Texas' Hispanic vote that he thinks will clinch the state for Reagan.

Unlike Texas, Kansas is a sure state for the Republican, so Sen. Dole (R-Kans.), who served as an agricultural adviser to Reagan during the campaign, has had little to do there save work for his own re-election--something he doesn't have to worry much about. Similarly, Rep. Phillip M. Crane (R-Ill.) has been staying close to home, trying to win himself re-election--which should be no problem--and helping to shore-up support for Reagan in the Chicago suburbs.

Although efforts put forth by the Republican also-rans have not lived up to Laxalt's optimistic expectations, Reagan campaign officials say they are pleased with what their former foes have done.

They single out Gerald R. Ford--who saved himself from also-ran status by deciding to stay out of the race in the first place--as Reagan's greatest asset in the party. The former president has logged thousands of miles this fall stumping for his former arch-rival and has attacked Carter as if his own neck is on the line.

There were other fighting for their party's nomination this year. Lyndon LaRouche, a Democratic contender, hasn't been heard from since the middle of the primary season; and California Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. returned to his home state after bowing out of the Democratic race in March to practice maintaining a low profile. So far, he has been highly successful.

On the Republican side, George Bush, who actually won a few contests, was rescued from the ranks of also-rans when Reagan asked him to become the party's vice-presidential nominee. And Rep. John B. Anderson (R-Ill.), who was spared also-ran status when he started his independent bid, looks likely to become one anyway after November 4.

But being an also-ran is not a stigma in American politics; Reagan and Richard M. Nixon are notable examples of politicians who transcended their also-ran status. And chances are, politics being politics, many of the losers from the 1980 presidential race may risk becoming also-rans once again--as early as the morning after this election.