"I started when George Bush was at 91 percent," he says referring to the president's popularity rating, "and you've seen what I've done to him."

On American cars, and the first car he bought, a Ford Pinto:

"The people who built this car, why do they hate me? What did I ever do?" Tsongas asks in his stump speech. "Then I bought a Chevy Vega. They hated me, too."

Tsongas even jokes about his bout with cancer in the 1970s, when he retired from the U.S. Senate to undergo treatment.

Of the time he told his kids that he would seek the presidency, Tsongas says, "Their immediate thought was that I had gotten sick again. But we assured them it was much worse."

And then there's the topic of one Michael S. Dukakis.

The Duke, whose name has become a euphemism for the Democrats' woes in presidential politics despite capturing 47 percent of the vote in 1988, may be a slightly more sensitive topic for Tsongas.

When Tsongas was unable to hear a question about the similarity to the former Massachusetts governor at one rally recently, the supporter had to repeat it.

"I'm sorry I heard you," Tsongas said dryly.

"When I got into this race, it was not because I thought the earth was crying for a Greek Democrat from Massachusetts to run," Tsongas has said in stump speeches.

Still, Tsongas' humor is one way in which he tries to set himself apart from Dukakis, who often came across to voters as cold.

Of course, Dukakis also is faulted for his inability to take the offensive when Bush's labelling of him as a liberal hurt him in the polls.

And going on the offensive is something that Paul Tsongas is awfully serious about.

So despite the obvious similarities between Dukakis and Tsongas in substance and in style, Tsongas appears to be making every effort to shake the comparison.

And in an interview with The Crimson this week, Dukakis said he thinks the comparisons were mostly unfounded.

"Paul and I share some similarities, [but] we're obviously different people," he said. "He has his style and I have mine."

These days, Tsongas' style is in demand. His Letterman appearance, though it lasted only 61 seconds (as indicated by an on-screen clock to insure fairness to all candidates) and consisted of smiling and shaking hands but not speaking, demonstrates a fascination with this most recent addition to the national political scene.

Tsongas and his wife, Nikki, had to be shooed off stage by Letterman when the politician began shaking hands with camera operators and audience members.

Some have also rumored that Tsongas has been invited to appear as a guest host on Saturday Night Live, but that could not be confirmed this week.

And while a drop from the presidential race to enter the world of stand-up comedy seems unlikely, it is clear his mixture of humor and politics have given Paul Tsongas a shot--at least a shot--at the presidency.