MANCHESTER, N.H. — Vermin Supreme is sidled up to a bowl of cottage pie in a dimly lit bar here in Manchester. A half-dozen ties dangle from his neck, and the black rubber boot he wears as a hat is resting in his lap. Suddenly, two young men interrupt him: “Excuse us, Mr. President, can we get a photo?” Supreme gladly obliges, hoisting the boot onto his head for the photo op. “Sometimes, you get the feeling that it could happen, I could be president, just because of the excitement of people on the street,” the Democratic presidential candidate says. “It creates this incredible illusion that they’re joining my delusions. It’s a beautiful thing that so many people are willing to suspend disbelief.” Vermin Supreme is probably the most colorful candidate canvassing New Hampshire in advance of the presidential primary on Tuesday. But he’s not alone on the undercard. Beneath the nationally televised debates and the front-page headlines lies a host of lesser-known candidates trying – with varying degrees of success – to get their message out to voters. Some are running for the Democratic or Republican nominations but don’t have enough of a following to garner national attention. Others are running on third-party tickets, or positioning themselves as independent alternatives. As for Supreme, he’ll actually be on the Democratic ballot during New Hampshire’s Feb. 9 primary. He is under no illusions about making it to the White House, yet he’s still optimistic. “I think I can come out on top of the fringies this time,” Supreme told Al Jazeera. To be sure, 2016 marks Supreme’s third New Hampshire primary. His campaign is less a serious electoral bid than protest or performance art. His platform includes a mandatory tooth-brushing law, zombie apocalypse preparedness and a free pony for every American. With all the money the United States spends fighting wars, Supreme asks rhetorically, why not buy every American a pony?

Jill Stein waits to speak before announcing that she will seek the Green Party's presidential nomination, at the National Press Club, June 23, 2015 in Washington, DC. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

But for other lesser-known candidates, this election is fully in earnest. They may not win but they — and their parties — are running to highlight issues of huge importance. Jill Stein is a Harvard-trained physician who was the Green Party’s presidential nominee in 2012. A resident of Lexington, Mass., Stein also ran for governor of Massachusetts in 2002 and 2010. Now she’s running for the Green Party’s 2016 presidential nomination. The Green Party is a left-wing political group that fields candidates for local, state and national office. Stein argues that the Democratic and Republican parties are too embedded with corporate interests, keeping them from really tackling urgent issues like income inequality and climate change. “While there are differences between the two parties, they’re not enough to save your job or to save your life,” Stein says. Stein’s platform includes single-payer healthcare, a $15 per hour federal minimum wage, public banks and utilities, cutting military spending by 50 percent, abolishing student debt and using the federal government to create jobs for the unemployed. Some of that bears more than a passing resemblance to policies proposed by Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders. Stein called the independent Vermont senator’s campaign “inspiring.” But Stein is adamant about the need to step outside of the two-party system, which she says co-opts progressive campaigns into a Democratic party that ultimately serves its wealthy donors at the expense of working people. The Green Party itself came under heavy criticism after the 2000 presidential election, when many Democrats accused its presidential candidate, Ralph Nader, of splitting off a fraction of the progressive vote and handing the election to George W. Bush. It’s a common argument — that elections are about deciding between the lesser of two evils. But Stein rejects the idea out of hand. Running against Republicans instead of for a vision of what America can be is a losing strategy in the long run, Stein says. “The ‘lesser evil’ paves the way to the ‘greater evil,’ because people don’t come out to vote against their fears,” Stein says.

‘While there are differences between the two parties, they’re not enough to save your job or to save your life.’ Jill Stein presidential candidate, Green Party