Conservatives Struggle To Unify For Voter Outreach - LATimes

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Conservatives struggle to unify for voter outreach
Republicans and 'tea party' activists have funneled millions into campaign ads. But their get-out-the-vote effort — crucial in the final week — is fractured and may give Democrats an edge.
By Tom Hamburger and Kathleen Hennessey - LAYimes
October 26, 2010

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With the campaign in its final week, well-funded conservative groups have shifted their focus from the airwaves to voters' phone lines, front doors and mailboxes — part of a get-out-the-vote effort that could tip the scales in tight races across the country.

But the push to get the nation's conservative voters to the polls is fractured and untested, with some "tea party" activists refusing to cooperate with more mainstream Republicans, in contrast to the unified and well-organized parallel effort by unions and Democrats, according to key players on both sides.

And...

With money and momentum on their side, Republicans are considered competitive in dozens of districts once thought to be out of reach. But races are tightening, and the voter mobilization program could determine whether the election provides better than average midterm gains for the GOP.

"There is a sense now that Republicans may not be able to capitalize on the backlash against Obama and the Democrats because they lack the well-organized voter ID and get-out-the-vote effort that they have had in the past," said Lawrence Jacobs, a University of Minnesota political scientist who has been comparing the ground game of both parties. There is enormous variation now state to state, he said.

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More: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-conservatives-endgame-20101026,0,1142921,print.story

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