Months ago, Bill Bradley was the un-candidate.

Campaigning in California, he sat still and said little. He listened to small groups of voters, asked some questions and shook hands.

This is "retail politics," a genre of campaigning usually reserved for early battleground primary states like New Hampshire and South Carolina.

But other candidates don't do retail politics in California, the most populous state in the Union, which has historically conferred its electoral riches on candidates who blitz the state with advertising and large public appearances.

"I'm trying to do the campaigning in a different way...not taking polls...just going around and asking people what they think," Bradley says.

For the most part, even as his star rises in the polls, Bradley sticks to a maverick philosophy. Whether doing it his way can sustain his candidacy through the Democratic primaries remains to be seen.

The institutional advantages of Vice President Al Gore '69 are clear: he has the trappings of the vice-presidency, a large staff, four years of prime photo-ops, and most importantly, a wealth of superdelegates--unpledged Democratic dignitaries chosen directly by the party. And, unlike other candidates, Gore has enumerated specifics early.

For the most part, national polls reflect Gore's strength. A healthy majority of probable Democratic primary voters say they favor the vice president.

But in several key states, particularly in the Northeast, polls show that Bradley is gaining ground.