The campaign will typically seek to identify supporters at the same time as getting its message across.

Mr. Gingrich's other major expense this year was direct mail to send out brochures across the country to raise money and identify supporters.

Since about one-fifth of both parties' members generally participate in the caucuses the effort to identify supporters and bring them out to vote is considered important.

Absentee voting offers an opportunity for political parties to refine and use increasingly sophisticated methods of identifying supporters known as microtargeting.

The parties also use magazine subscription lists, catalog mailings and even cable television choices to further identify potential supporters.

They attempt to identify and convert Communist supporters, to organize local armed units and to provide a lasting military presence against reprisals.

Bush campaign officials said they were working with state Republican Party organizations to develop programs to identify potential supporters and encourage them to vote.

This shift signals that the 2004 election will have a much greater reliance on identifying supporters and getting them to the polls.

All the campaigns are pushing hard to identify and mobilize supporters.