Tom Vilsack is not on many voters’ radar screen as a possible next president.

Even residents of Iowa, who elected the Democrat as Governor of that state, list him fourth in a June poll rating possible Democratic candidates.

As he finishes the announcement phase of his candidacy for the 2008 race - including a Christian Science Monitor breakfast with reporters - Vilsack knows he’s a long shot. He has said as much.

But he has an answer to the inevitable question of how an obscure Midwest governor can get past the predicted Hillary Rodham Clinton juggernaut and the current frenzy surrounding Illinois’ junior senator Barack Obama.

“You have to work longer, and you have to work smarter, and that’s what we intend to do,” Vilsack told reporters last week, his wife at his side.

There’s nothing flashy about Vilsack, a Pittsburgh native who came to Iowa to meet his then-fiancée’s family and who now considers Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, his second hometown. When asked about Obama-style charisma, he countered with his own version.

“There is a quiet charisma,” he said, a charisma that causes voters to say “he’s authentic and real and has done well.”

Vilsack also notes that among the dozen or so other Democrats who may run for president, only two are candidates from west of the Mississippi River and are governors: himself and Bill Richardson of New Mexico.

In 2004, Democratic nominee John Kerry did not win any Plains or Mountain West states, including Iowa and New Mexico. Most recent presidents have been governors first - positioning themselves as outsiders and as chief executives. In fact, only one U.S. President, John F. Kennedy, has been elected directly out of Congress since the 19th Century.

“[As governor] we did not raise taxes; we actually have cut taxes every year I’ve been governor,” he said. “We not only elected a Democratic governor, which will be the longest period of time we’ve had a Democratic governor in consecutive years in the history of our state, we also as a result of efforts of the last four years elected a [Democratic] House and Senate - the first time that combination has occurred in 42 years… We have turned a red state to blue.”

Vilsack’s signature issue, at least one of them, will be energy security. He plans to focus on conservation, renewable fuels, and using traditional materials in ways that are “cleaner and greener.” He says energy and conservation can unite the country, bringing together right and left.