A GOP machine sits silent

GOP officials also say that new voter-identification technology will help them make up for any falloff in conservative zeal. For example, volunteers will survey voters on special Internet phones that automatically insert their answers into the party's massive database, called "Voter Vault." The phone calls are used to identify potential new supporters by asking a series of questions about issues and candidates. In the past, volunteers and party staff would have spent hours typing information into the database.

Officials said the system was tested in a number of local elections last year, including the Canton, Ohio, mayoral race.

A new angle

The net that Republican officials are casting for potential supporters is wider than in the past. Party leaders in recent weeks have met with evangelicals, hunters, African Americans and Latinos, as in the past. But they have even started conversations with representatives from the gay and lesbian community.

"These meetings have been fascinating," said Ohio GOP spokesman John McClelland, "and we're getting new views."

And Republican officials say that they have in recent days begun installing state and regional directors, and that offices are beginning to open this month in Ohio and other battlegrounds.

Democrats, too, are adjusting their strategy in Ohio and elsewhere, as they examine how to shape the general election around the unusual biography of the country's first black presidential nominee.

The state Democratic Party last year conducted a major poll on voter attitudes that included questions on race and gender, in anticipation of a black or female nominee. Party officials said those results have helped them create a plan to target independents and conservatives, which entails recruiting neighborhood-level volunteers with local credibility to make the case for Obama. That means finding white volunteers to help in rural and exurban counties that went for Bush in 2004 and for Clinton in the primary.

In addition, about 10 Obama staff members are at work in Ohio registering voters, with an emphasis on African Americans and other core supporters. And the campaign has begun talks with a top strategist for Ohio's popular Democratic governor, Ted Strickland, who was an early Clinton backer.

But as both campaigns aim for voters in the less ideologically driven center, McCain may have the tougher challenge in retaining voters in his party's base at the same time. A falling-out he had with Cunningham, the radio talk show host, shows the problem.