Campaign '04: Fighting For Every Last Vote

Which is why, for now, the Democrats say they are confident they will once again be proved the masters of the ground game. "We believe that if Kerry is behind in the polls by two or three or four points on Election Day, he will win," Rosenthal says. "We've built the best field-goal unit in America. All we need is for the quarterback to get us in range." But privately, Democrats are more than a little nervous--particularly about what the Republicans will produce when they turn on their operation full force for the last 72 hours of the campaign. Says a veteran Democratic organizer: "They are catching up in the advantage the Democrats have historically had. We won't see until Election Day how much they have caught up." --With reporting by Elizabeth Coady/Lancaster, Michael Peltier/Tallahassee, Nathan Thornburgh/New York, Matthew Cooper and John F. Dickerson/Washington