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McCain, Obama Busy Motivating Bay Area Voters

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By KRISTA KLAUS

News Channel 8

Published: October 16, 2008

With 20 days until the general election, the campaigns of Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama are working feverishly to get out the vote among core supporters in the Tampa Bay area.

People from the Obama campaign are fanning out across the University of South Florida today, passing out fliers and reminding students about early voting, which will begin Monday across the state.

The McCain campaign, meanwhile, is launching multiple phone banks across the Bay area to reach older voters along the ever-important Interstate 4 corridor.

USF political science professor Susan MacManus said both campaigns are working to shore up their bases.

"The Democrats are very shrewdly focusing on younger voters, and the McCain campaign is focusing on the over-50 voters, which is their stronger base," MacManus said. "Each campaign is using the get-out-the-vote technique that works best for their targeted age group."

According to Real Clear Politics, a leading political Web site, Obama is leading McCain in Florida by four to five points. MacManus said that to close the gap, McCain needs to pump up his television advertising in the Sunshine State for the next three weeks.

"Obama is outspending McCain 4-to-1," MacManus said. McCain "has got to run more television ads because late deciders are often swayed by television ads."

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