Democrats and Republicans in Maryland are doing everything they can to help push their candidate over the finish line.
In Baltimore County, volunteers from both parties spent hours making calls, trying to make sure their voters get to the polls -- and to find some new votes if they can.
At the Democratic phone bank in Towson, many of the state’s top Democrats held a rally to give volunteers a boost on the final Monday before the election. Senator Barbara Mikulski told the crowd, ‘Tomorrow night, we change history.’
‘The enthusiasm of the people who are working to secure this election is overwhelming,’ said Jim Smith, the Baltimore County Executive. They feel Barack Obama has an insurmountable lead over John McCain. But just in case, they're making phone calls to voters in battleground states all over the country -- targeting Obama voters; making sure they plan to head to the polls. More than 128-thousand phone calls were made just since this weekend.
‘When all is said and done tomorrow night, Barack Obama will win all of those target states and I think he's going to have at least 347 if not more electoral votes,’ said Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler, who is the chairman of Barack Obama’s Maryland campaign.
State Republicans are not ready to give up the fight. Their call center in White Marsh was also fully staffed Monday night. ‘For those folks who say this is not a Republican year, they haven't been here tonight to see these folks making all these phone calls, it's very exciting,’ said Del. William Frank, who represents areas of Towson and Lutherville.
The Republicans’ focus was on Maryland's first district congressional race, between Democrat Frank Kratovil, and Republican Andy Harris. ‘I actually just got off the phone with a woman who was undecided and she's voting for Andy Harris,’ said Kathy Szeliga, who organized the phone bank.
The Republicans are targeting registered independents with their calls -- trying to find out if there are truly any undecided voters left. ‘There are some people who quite frankly haven't made up their minds yet so we're just trying to reach out to those voters and try to bring them into the Repubican campaign,’ Del. Frank said.
Both the democrats and the republicans wrapped up their phone banks around nine o'clock Monday night. They'll be back at it on Election Day. Volunteers from both parties will also be offering rides to voters who need a way to get to the polls.
