Now, the Dracut farmer is looking to cultivate votes as he challenges the Democrat who challenged President Bush in 2004. For the next few days, his "People Before Politics" tour will take him to coffee shops across the state.

"Hi, I'm Jim Ogonowski. I'm running for U.S. Senate. Mind if I sit down for a minute?" he asks during a stop at the Owl Diner on Appleton Street yesterday morning.

Lowell resident Walter Bettencourt runs a liquor store in Haverhill and tells Ogonowski that he is feeling the pinch at the gas pump.

"Tell me about it," says Ogonowski, a Dracut Republican who is challenging Sen. John Kerry. "I run a farm in Dracut, and diesel fuel is up over four bucks a gallon."

Bettencourt says he is originally from Portugal's Azores. Ogonowski asks, "What island? Terceira? Santa Maria?"

"Graciosa," he says.

"Oh, the small island," Ogonowski says. "They have the best swordfish in the world there."

Bettencourt seems impressed. They shake hands.

"I'd appreciate your vote," says the candidate.

"I will vote for you. I like you," says Bettencourt.

"Obrigado," responds Ogonowski, which is thank you in Portuguese.

His themes are the economy, immigration reform and energy independence. These are the same messages he preached last year during his close race with Niki Tsongas for Marty

Meehan's 5th Congressional District seat. The coffee shops, he says, are where he can hear from real people heading out to work in the real world. His congressional loss was the beginning of a movement, he says. Even Democrats have told him they've had enough of Kerry.

"He's been there for 24 years," he tells an auto mechanic named Tony, who owns a garage in Lowell. "Do you think he's getting the job done? How's business? Do you think people are spending their money on fixing cars?"

Tony says he will consider Ogonowski, a retired lieutenant colonel in the Air Force and Air National Guard and the younger brother of John Ogonowski, who was the pilot aboard American Airlines Flight 11 on Sept. 11, 2001, the first jetliner crashed by terrorists into the Twin Towers. Ogonowski's wife, Kathy, is with him at this early-morning stop. It is a rarity and it is only because he forgot his cell phone. "Sometimes, we actually get to spend a whole 20 or 30 full minutes together," he jokes.

His decision to run came just days after his November defeat to the widow of Lowell's most famous leader, Paul Tsongas.

"I took a deep breath and I was back at it two days later," he says.

He has spoken with Republicans at the national and state level, as well as Republican town committees, activists and volunteers, but mostly, he listens to the voters.

"What I have been hearing the most is that it is time for somebody to go after John Kerry" he says. "People feel that he is not there for them. He is there for himself."

Ogonowski would not disclose how much money he has raised, but said contributions are coming in from around the country.

"We've exceeded our expectations in the first quarter. We have our foundation and staff in place," he says. "We have close to 400 volunteers and we expect many, many more. This is a real exciting time, and who better than to share it with than the people?"

He will visit another dozen or so diners on this day. He will shake hands and drink too much coffee. And the next day, before the crack of dawn, he will do it again.