Obama pushes Fla. Democrats to vote

MIAMI, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- The Obama presidential campaign is trying to raise Democratic voter turnout in key areas of traditionally Republican Florida, campaign officials said.

The campaign, which sees Florida as key to winning on Nov. 4, has sent five of its most senior operatives to areas such as Miami-Dade County because it believes Obama has enough supporters to win the state -- and it just has to make sure those supporters get to the polls.

This is in contrast to battleground states such as Ohio, where Democrats believe victory depends on persuading more voters to support Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, the Los Angeles Times reports.

More than 94,000 new registered-Democratic voters have been added to the rolls since January, compared with about 21,000 new registered Republicans, Miami-Dade officials said Thursday.

Sen. John McCain's campaign believes the race is far from over, McCain campaign adviser and former state Republican Chairman Al Cardenas tells the newspaper.

McCain remains popular among traditionally Republican Cuban Americans, and high-profile supporters such as Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., might help boost support among iolder Jews, he says.

Cardenas also cites McCain's appeal to northern Florida conservatives.