Memories of 2000 energize Democratic voters, organizers

Armed with Palm Pilots and a $95 million budget, Democratic organizers hope to exploit voters' anger toward President Bush and the disputed outcome of the 2000 election to produce a record-breaking Nov. 2 turnout.

They're doing it the old-fashioned way -- knocking on doors and registering voters -- with information-age technology, such as the hand-held computers carried street-to-street by canvassers.

"There's going to be people crawling out of the woodwork to vote against Bush after what happened in 2000 and what he's done since," said Jean Jeffries, 59, of St. Louis. Six months before Election Day, Democratic organizers are already knocking on her door -- making sure she and her children are registered to vote.

"People are fired up," Jeffries said. "Anger is a powerful motivator."

Democratic voters turned out in record numbers in several state primaries this year, especially when the outcome of the race was still in doubt. Voters said they were angry at President Bush, unhappy about the war in Iraq and badly wanted a candidate who could unseat the incumbent.

Dr. Rick Althaus, a member of the Democratic party, said his Cape Girardeau organization has plans for a voter registration drive throughout the summer.

"The big challenge is to identify voters who aren't registered and then get them to actually turn out to vote," Althaus said.

Specifically, Althaus said, his organization is trying to reach residents who will vote along the party lines.

"It doesn't do any good to register voters who will go to the polls and vote the other way," Althaus said.

Althaus said party supporters will remind people to vote and provide transportation to the polls for the election.

"I think everyone agrees it's going to be a close, competitive election this fall, and so turnout is important," Althaus said.

'It's the star again'

In Missouri and 13 other states that will help determine this year's election, an independent group called America Coming Together is working at what the Democratic National Committee used to do: voter registration, recruitment and get-out-the-vote operations.

Campaign finance reforms forbid the DNC from raising unlimited "soft money" donations, but ACT can -- as long as the group doesn't coordinate with the DNC or Kerry's campaign. The Republican National Committee has challenged the legality of ACT and other Democratic interest groups with the Federal Election Commission.

After razor-thin elections in several states four years ago, both parties have learned that while television commercials are still king, investing in solid door-to-door outreach is a prince of an idea.

"We now know that ground-game activities are the way to go," said Donald Redmond, director of the Missouri ACT office. "It's the star again, but we're using technology to do it better."

His team intends to knock on 850,000 to 1 million Missouri doors at least three to five times -- identifying, registering and courting potential Democrats, then getting them to the polls.

Tracy Ballard, 34, carries a Palm Pilot -- a hand-held minicomputer and organizer -- on her clipboard while walking the streets of a predominantly black St. Louis neighborhood. Minorities traditionally have voted Democratic. "Hello, anybody there?" she yells into one house, her face pressed against the glass door.

Spotting the house's owner inside, Ballard reads a list of names from her Palm Pilot. Marian Arthur, Robert Arthur, John Arthur -- they're all listed on state voting rolls as registered voters. Ballard gets a new address for John, and enters it into her Palm Pilot, then confirms that Marian and Robert plan to vote for Kerry.

The information will be fed into ACT's main computers before sunset. The Arthurs will be contacted by phone, canvassers and e-mails several times before Nov. 2.

In Minneapolis, Democratic organizers plan to knock on 500,000 doors. The typical voter will be visited at their home two or three times and receive up to a half dozen pieces of mail before Nov. 2.

In Iowa, the state party and ACT hope to replicate one of the nation's most successful get-out-the-vote operations. A test case for deploying Palm Pilots, state Democrats dramatically increased absentee balloting in 2000 and swelled the margins of victory for Sen. Tom Harkin and Gov. Tom Vilsack in 2002.

Staff writer Callie Clark contributed to this report.