Whatever rule book there was for campaigning in Cincinnati, Courtis Fuller has never read it.

        The rules say you're supposed to attend church festivals all summer, and then make the rounds of neighborhood community councils all autumn.

        The rules say you need to raise at least $100,000 just to have a decent television presence.

        The rules say you're supposed to court endorsements from labor unions, interest groups, and newspapers.

        Mr. Fuller has done none of it.

        “You don't campaign in 2001 the same way you did in 1990,” he said. “I'm just writing a different chapter of the book.”

        He's virtually invisible on the “official” campaign trail, though Mr. Fuller insists that he is doing grass-roots campaigning, away from the television cameras.

        He's raised only $64,081 at last report. Ten City Council candidates — including four non-incumbents — have raised more. Though campaign aides admit they'd like to have enough for television ads, Mr. Fuller said he's convinced that “money won't carry the day” on Nov. 6.

        And Mr. Fuller is not seeking endorsements, saying he'd rather take his appeal straight to individual voters.

        He's running an unconventional campaign, to say the least. Even some of Mr. Fuller's closest supporters have sometimes been puzzled.

        “All I can say is, I'm out of the traditional mode of campaigning,” said former mayor Dwight Tillery, whose African-American Political Caucus endorsed Mr. Fuller and who personally contributed $1,200 to the campaign.

        “He's not seeking endorsements. He doesn't seem like he has a real focus on raising money. But I've been impressed with his

        determination of doing it his way,” Mr. Tillery said. “He's been more courageous to break out of the box, and to that extent I give him credit. But I don't think I could have done it that way.”

        Mr. Fuller's campaign has often put his opponent, Charlie Luken, at a loss.

        At almost every opportunity, Mr. Luken accuses Mr. Fuller of ducking debates.

        “What is not clear is that Courtis is changing positions and dodging appearances, all designed to keep the voters in the dark about critical issues facing our city,” Mr. Luken said in a news release titled, “East Side, West Side: Fuller Fails Voters.”

        “His peek-a-boo campaign is in full swing, but voters are catching on,” Mr. Lukenaid.

        As for his lack of personal appearances, Mr. Fuller insists he's still campaigning 18 hours a day — but not at the “traditional” events.

        While Mr. Luken was at a Westwood Concerns forum this week, Mr. Fuller was taking questions from the Black Student Association at Xavier University.

        “Did you see how many kids raised their hands in there? That's why I'm here,” he said while walking back to his car, on the way to another event. “I was encouraged. Those kids know their stuff.”

        When Mr. Fuller said he wouldn't seek endorsements, some saw it as an empty gesture — Mr. Luken was likely to get most of the endorsements anyway.

        But then the Fraternal Order of Police decided not to endorse either candidate, and the AFL-CIO followed suit.

        It's not unheard of for candidates to refuse endorsements, said John Green, director of the Roy Bliss Center for Applied Politics at the University of Akron.

        But it is rare.

        “It certainly can work, but it usually doesn't,” Mr. Green said. “Then again, Cincinnati is known for its reform politics. If there's anywhere in Ohio it can work, it's Cincinnati.”

        Now, even some of Mr. Luken's supporters are wondering whether Mr. Fuller might be on to something with his new style of campaigning.

        David Mann, a former Democratic mayor and Mr. Luken's successor in Congress, said he certainly didn't expect Mr. Fuller to win the primary by 16 points with a quiet campaign.

        “This is a year, and these are times, like no other,” he said. “And maybe he's about to show us all something.”

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