DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL Larry Agran thought he could leap from the office of mayor to the Oval Office--if only given the chance to present himself and his ideas to the American people.

But Agran has been virtually shut out of the race, as evidenced by this exclusion from a December 19 health care forum in Nashua, N.H.

In what turned out to be a symbolic day in his troubled campaign, Agran rose from the audience while the major candidates for the Democratic nomination were jockeying for position.

While the well-established politicos sat on stage for the debate, Agran let everyone know that he should have received an invitation to join them.

"When I asked the moderator for the criteria used in excluding me from the event, I provoked quite a response," says Agran, who was mayor of Irvine, Calif., from 1982-84 and 1986-90. "Police officers were ordered to my side, who were going to take me out of the building--until people in the crowd stood up for me."

Agran was allowed to enter the debate, but that struggle was a minor victory overwhelmed by a long string of frustrations. He received just more than 300 votes in the crucial New Hampshire primary, and struggles daily to raise sufficient funds to keep him Campaign afloat.

He has struck out in his attempt to ingrain his name in the public mind--something the attributes entirely to his being excluded from key presidential debates and major press coverage.

"I'm a victim of discrimination," says Agran, 46, who questions the press and Democratic National Committee's (DNC) informal selection of major candidates before any primaries are held. He demands that states "pride themselves on procedures that are equal to all serious candidates."

But his complaint about being excluded from debates only goes so far, as Agran only garnered one percent of the ballots in South Dakota--after participating in that state's debate before the election.

James P. Delser, spokesperson for the Democratic National Committee, says Agran's complaints do hold some validity.

"He has a legitimate gripe in that he hasn't been included as being one of the major candidates," Desler says. "It's hard to break through. It's a self-perpetuating cycle."

Agran, who advocates a "New American Security" which he says would shift $150 billion from military spending to domestic concerns, believes he can inject a new perspective into the race with his mayoral background. Many others agree, including Desire.

"He has hands-on experience in towns that a lot of candidates coming from statewide offices don't have," Desire said. "He has firsthand knowledge of how cities are suffering through federal budget cuts from the Reagan and Bush administrations."

And Agran believes that federal investment incities is just what the country needs to swing itout of the current recession.

"I'm the only candidate with any experiencerunning a city, and American is a collection ofcities and towns...where the majority live theirlives," Agran says.