Robinson's personal gaffes continued in August. He was involved in an automobile accident while conducting a radio interview from his cell phone, projecting sounds of screeching tires and the accident's aftermath over the air waves.

Later in the month, an officer pulled Robinson over for driving almost double the speed limit in Connecticut.

Last week, Robinson's only paid staff member, Thomas P. McCuin, a veteran of the presidential campaign of Sen. John S. McCain (R.-Ariz.), quit, citing philosophical differences with Robinson.

Despite his myriad setbacks, Robinson pledges to continue his campaign, which he says is now based in cyberspace.

He has spent hours each day crisscrossing Massachusetts in his red 2000 Cadillac DeVille to fulfill his vow of visiting all of the state's 351 towns and cities, even if only for a few moments, and he has attacked Kennedy for refusing to agree to a series of debates.

Kennedy Sitting Pretty

Currently, Kennedy's attitude to the Senate race and Robinson has been marked by confident indifference.

The 68 year-old senator, running for his seventh term in office, has never been more popular in Massachusetts, a state known for its liberal voters.