Parties prepare to rally voters

BLUE BELL, Pa. — Barack Obama, a former community organizer, is spending untold millions of dollars to identify and mobilize voters, and Republicans acknowledge that John McCain’s team probably will be outspent and outmanned. They hope it won’t be outmaneuvered.

This is an unusual situation for Republicans, masters of the ground game: the contest of phone calls, door knocks, literature drops and text messaging that can make the difference in close contests.

Look no farther than the 2000 presidential race that showed Democrats and Republicans alike the importance of getting a party’s supporters to polls. George W. Bush’s disputed 537-vote victory in Florida gave the Republican the White House over Democrat Al Gore. Four years later, Democrat John Kerry ramped up the party’s efforts but not enough to stop Bush’s re-election.

Third-straight loss?

This year, Democrats say they are determined not to let the White House slip from their grasp for a third-straight election.

"We’re waging a very aggressive campaign to use our network of neighborhood volunteers to persuade voters wherever they are,” said Jon Carson, Obama’s national field director.

Republicans hope their battle-tested operation will deliver victory for McCain in a difficult GOP year. They know the Democrats are pressing hard on the ground.

"They’ve definitely got the bodies, and they’ve definitely got the money,” said Rich Beeson, the Republican National Committee’s political director. Yet what matters most is knowing whom to mobilize on Election Day.