AUGUSTA – With the general election three months away, Democratic and Republican party leaders say they have the teams in place to carry their candidates to victory.

With a historic presidential election on tap between Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama and contested races for seats in the U.S. Senate, House of Representatives and Maine Legislature, motivating the party faithful to take part in the campaigns has become the focal point as Election Day approaches.

For both parties, that means opening offices all over the state, recruiting volunteers, raising money, knocking on doors and working the phones to get out the vote on Nov. 4.

The Democrats have opened 29 offices already, with at least one in each of the state’s 16 counties. They even have one in Machias, marking the first time the party has had an official presence there during an election season since the days when Edmund S. Muskie was serving in the U.S. Senate. In 2004, the party had six regional offices in the state.

“The whole idea is to make it easy for people to come in and get involved and not have to drive [far] to find an office,” said Rebecca Pollard, Maine Democratic Party communications director. “We are campaigning all across Maine and our goal is to get Democrats elected up and down the ticket.”

Although the Republicans have yet to match the Democrats in the number of campaign offices statewide, having only three at this point, they do have plans to open more and have a dedicated group of volunteers and staff members who have been working on identifying and contacting voters for months, according to Randy Bumps, regional political director for the Republican National Committee.

“Our effort in Maine has been under way for some months and we do have offices and staff in place,” Bumps said Thursday. “That’s part of a national effort to turn voters out, and offices and staff will continue to grow as the cycle continues.”

Bumps said that while most people in Maine view the month of August as a time more for vacation and respite, the staff and volunteers have been contacting thousands of voters every week.

“The fact that we can draw volunteers into the cycle is remarkable. This is the stuff that is invisible to folks not politically active, but this is what is going on in Republican offices in the state,” he said. “The Maine staff and the Maine volunteers really are exceeding expectations in terms of the intensity of activity. Maine is literally at the top of the heap in terms of the number of voter contacts. That is testimony not only to the staff but the number of volunteers and also to Senator McCain.”

Pollard said the state party received a financial commitment from the national Democratic Party and has 52 paid staff members working in Maine, as well as 50 more serving internships. She said 2,800 volunteers already had made more than a half-million phone calls this year. Volunteers knocked on doors in more than 100 communities recently, discussing issues and candidates for federal and state offices.

“This is all over the state; this isn’t just in the big cities,” she said. “A lot of work has gone into planning it and making sure we have the resources to do it. We’re really proud of what we’ve put together.”

Pollard said the party also was recruiting volunteers from the high school and college ranks, some not yet eligible to vote. The party has two full-time youth coordinators and plans to have every one of the state’s colleges organized when classes begin this fall. She said the younger generation views this election as being critical to their future.

“This year the stakes seem very high to them,” she said. “Maybe they know people in Iraq or are worried about paying their college loans. Maybe they see their parents and grandparents worried about heating their homes.”

Bumps said the Republican National Committee also had invested heavily in Maine. He said there were a dozen paid staff members in place and hundreds of volunteers. He said Republicans traditionally have been able to identify their supporters and have the technology to keep track of them. That model has worked well for the party in past elections and will work well in this election cycle, too, he predicted.

“There is a distinction between what we are doing and the Democrats are doing. We’re very heavily volunteer-driven and oriented toward local jurisdictions down to the precinct level,” Bumps said. “Our strategy is just fundamentally different than theirs. We look closely at the electoral map and determine what resources to deploy in those areas. We have a fundamental and philosophical approach to how we plan to win.”

wgriffin@bangordailynews.net

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