But the veteran activist from Takoma Park isn’t just a single-issue candidate who espouses immediate U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq. Zeese has called for an impeachment inquiry of President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard B. Cheney, re-evaluation of diplomatic relations with Israel, a ‘‘single-payer” universal health care system and reducing the economic divide between rich and poor by eliminating taxes from the first $100,000 of income and replacing it with a ‘‘micro-tax” on the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans.

‘‘I want to change the direction of the country, and neither of the two parties are willing to make fundamental changes,” he said.

Regardless of what happens on Nov. 7 when he faces Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele (R) and U.S. Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Dist. 3) of Pikesville, Zeese has already made history by receiving nominations for the first time from of three separate parties — Green, Populist and Libertarian.

His fund-raising lags far behind his mainstream rivals, and recent polls show him receiving less than 5 percent of the vote, but Zeese is undaunted.

‘‘I’m running to win,” he said. ‘‘This is not a money campaign. This is an ideas campaign.”

Zeese predicts his poll numbers will increase once voters see him debate his rivals; one debate was held Tuesday in Baltimore. ‘‘Voters want change and I’m the only non-status quo candidate.”

Kevin Zeese U.S. Senate 50, Takoma Park Green⁄Populist⁄Libertarian Experience: Co-founder TrueVoteMD; co-founder Treat Not Jail; co-founder Vote Trust USA; president, Common Sense for Drug Policy; member, D.C. and Virginia bar associations Top issues: Withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq, universal health care, eliminate taxes on the first $100,000 of income and replace it with a ‘‘micro-tax” on nation’s 1 percent. For more: www.Zeese.US and www.ZeeseForSenate.org

A longtime critic of electronic voting machines and proponent of substance abuse treatment reform, Zeese, 50, shakes his head when he watches Cardin’s and Steele’s television commercials.

‘‘I listen to their ads and it sounds like they’re talking about me,” he said, noting that Steele does not identify his party affiliation and claiming Cardin falsifies his position on the war in Iraq. ‘‘My guess is that their polling shows Marylanders want someone like me.”

His campaign has the support of former third-party presidential candidate Ralph Nader, who applauds Zeese’s refusal to accept contributions from corporations or big business.

‘‘He’s not going to put his hand out as he puts his conscience up for sale,” Nader said. Zeese was Nader’s presidential campaign spokesman two years ago.

Although their numbers pale in comparison to the major political parties, independents represent the fastest-growing group of voters in the state.

‘‘We have 100 kinds of toothpaste to choose from when we go to the grocery store,” said Patsy Allen, co-chairwoman of the Maryland Green Party. ‘‘We should have more than two Senate candidates to choose from.”

Originally published in the Gazette, http://www.gazette.net/stories/100406/montcou181306_31954.shtml