o many, he is the ultimate straight man. A blend of wealth and nerdiness to rival Bill Gates. In his own words, he is a ''charismatically challenged'' man.
But, believe it or not, there is a lighter side to Steve Forbes.
He's hardly Jay Leno. But to judge by crowd response on the campaign trail, Forbes's cornball sense of humor helps to soften the image of a man whose biggest obstacle to the 2000 Republican nomination might be his famously awkward persona.
In fact, nothing delights a crowd of Forbes supporters more than his zinger about ''the infernal, I mean Internal Revenue Service,'' or his tireless lampooning of the Washington political elite.
Forbes likes to describe the tax code's mind-numbing complexity with an expression seemingly more suited to Buffy the Vampire Slayer than a presidential candidate.
''As the kids say, `Hel-lo?''' he will say with a delighted smile, before launching off into a pitch for the simplicity of his 17 percent flat tax.
Later, Forbes will often marvel at how the idea that Americans want more health care coverage is often presented as an insight.
''I use another kids' word on that: `Du-uhhh!''' Forbes says, grinning behind his wire-rimmed glasses as his audience cracks up - possibly at the mere fact that the publishing mogul has used such a word.
But while many of Forbes's jokes are perfectly scripted and repeated several times a day, he can improvise virtually any topic into a riposte against his opponents and the dreaded Washington establishment.
When a microphone went out on him at a Nashua warehouse this week, Forbes didn't miss a beat: ''This is Al Gore technology,'' he said.
Forbes even put a political spin on a Super Bowl prediction made on his campaign flight to New Hampshire from Iowa Monday night. Forbes said the St. Louis Rams would beat the Tennessee Titans Sunday, noting that the Titans recently relocated from Texas - home state of his chief rival, George W. Bush.
''So hopefully there's a trend there,'' Forbes said.
Since his strong second-place showing in Iowa, the air of levity around the Forbes campaign has been particularly pronounced.
Leaving Iowa Monday night, Forbes's aides guzzled beer on his campaign jet and blared rock music from a giant speaker carried down the plane's aisles.
The theme of the night was Queen's defiant ''We Will Rock You.'' But even the night's playlist had an obvious political connotation, as the campaign dedicated a song to George Bush: ''The Great Pretender.''
