Democrats have launched an extensive local get-out-the-vote drive for U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign that is also intended to help Democratic candidates in difficult state House and Senate races.

The local Obama campaign has linked with the Democratic Party of Hawai'i and O'ahu Democrats to target 40,000 to 45,000 likely Democratic voters statewide. Volunteers are calling these voters on behalf of the Hawai'i-born Obama and other Democrats on the ballot, with specific, tailored appeals for more than a dozen candidates in competitive races.

With Obama expected to beat U.S. Sen. John McCain in Hawai'i, a traditionally Democratic state, local Democrats are using the drive as a potential model for 2010, when the party hopes to reclaim the governor's office from Republicans.

"I think that this is a prototype for 2010," said Andy Winer, an attorney and Democratic strategist who is Obama's state director in Hawai'i.

Democrats are predicting voter turnout will be 8 percent to 10 percent higher Nov. 4 than the last presidential election in 2004, when 66.7 percent of registered voters cast ballots. Turnout will likely be influenced by the presidential campaign along with mayoral runoffs on three islands and a Honolulu ballot question on a $3.7 billion rail project.

Republicans are estimating that turnout will not break 70 percent and are hoping new voters drawn to Obama will not strictly follow party lines down the ballot. The state GOP has a get-out-the-vote effort for local candidates that identifies a generally reliable pool of likely Republican and independent voters.

"It really now just comes down to the fundamentals. There's nothing fancy about this part of it," said Adam Deguire, the executive director of the state GOP. "It's just execute."

Democrats have seen Obama, who was born here and graduated from Punahou School, as a recruiting tool since he announced his campaign. The record turnout at the party's caucuses in February, and a surge of new voters who registered after the deadline for the September primary, have been attributed to Obama's popularity.

Obama has raised more than $2.7 million in Hawai'i, believed to be a record for a presidential campaign, but that money has been absorbed by his national campaign. Winer has been given a relatively small state budget and is working with volunteers on the local get-out-the-vote drive and a separate outreach operation for Nevada, a battleground state.

Volunteers have been calling voters on the target list to remind them to cast absentee ballots or to urge them to take advantage of early voting. Later this week, Democrats will refine the list to those who have yet to vote and volunteers will make another round of calls on Election Day.

The generic pitch is for Obama and other Democrats on the ballot. But in more than a dozen competitive House and Senate races, volunteers are making appeals for Obama and an individual candidate who may be struggling against a Republican challenger.

The party, meanwhile, is sending out direct mail and releasing automated telephone calls with recorded messages from U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawai'i. Inouye, according to party officials, has taped generic appeals for Obama and the Democrats as well as messages designed for individual candidates who may need help.

The national Obama campaign is also sending out e-mails on absentee and early voting and will likely have Election Day messages for Democrats.

Winer said he does not believe there has ever been a similar local get-out-the-vote drive for a presidential candidate. In 2004, after polls suggested that President Bush and U.S. Sen. John Kerry were even in Hawai'i, both national parties diverted resources to the Islands. Vice President Dick Cheney and former Vice President Al Gore made campaign appearances in Honolulu and several national surrogates, such as former President Clinton, gave local interviews and taped automated telephone calls.

Although state House and Senate campaigns are mostly about local issues, the late momentum for Kerry in 2004, and a deliberate strategy by Democrats to link local Republican candidates to President Bush in 2006, contributed to Democratic gains at the state Legislature.

Republicans acknowledge that higher voter turnout for Obama could undermine the chances of GOP challengers and endanger several Republican incumbents.

Given the dynamics in Hawai'i, local McCain volunteers have been calling voters in battleground states, including Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida. "At this point, it's strictly national," said Patrick Leonard, the McCain campaign's local media liaison.

The state GOP is doing a mix of canvassing, telephone banks, direct mail and automated telephone calls on behalf of Republican candidates. Willes Lee, the state GOP chairman, and state House Minority Leader Lynn Finnegan, R-32nd (Lower Pearlridge, 'Aiea, Halawa), have taped calls urging absentee and early voting. Deguire said Gov. Linda Lingle and Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona would likely be doing taped messages.

The GOP has argued that local Democrats cannot credibly campaign on Obama's message of change when their party has held power at the Legislature for more than half a century.

"This is about what's better for moving Hawai'i forward," Deguire said. "We have been stressing to make this about what's important on the issues. Who's going to make our education system better? Who's going to grow our local economy? Who's going to fix a lot of the problems with crime and illegal drugs?"

Democrats have a 44-7 majority in the House and a 22-3 majority in the Senate. Analysts tracking the campaigns predict that, because of the number of seats Democrats have to defend, it is possible for Democrats to lose two to three seats in the House and pick up one seat in the Senate.

But if turnout is significantly higher, and new voters show up mainly because of Obama, then Democrats could increase their majorities in both chambers.

"Our efforts are unprecedented and we think that the wave that's being created will help legislative candidates up and down the ballot," said Brian Schatz, the chairman of the Democratic Party of Hawai'i.