Mike, a campaign coordinator based in New Hampshire’s Democratic headquarters, recalled how 7,211 votes separated Bush from Gore in 2000. Obama’s win or loss in New Hampshire could decide the election, he said.

New Hampshire is “carrying the United States forward,” he added. “This is the most important thing you can do.”

HITTING THE STREETS

Riled up after the pep talks, Harvard students set forth on the small, mostly empty streets of Rochester, a town of 30,000 nestled on the Maine border.

Volunteers carried a roster of voters, a map of Rochester neighborhoods, and a stack of promotional pamphlets and flyers.

This canvassing effort, Harvard for Obama’s third trip this fall, was markedly different from earlier attempts to win New Hampshire votes. Swaying undecided votes was only a secondary focus this time. Instead, organizers told volunteers to shore up already-won votes by urging registered Democrats to turn out at the polls on Nov. 6.

This was, in part, due to lackluster enthusiasm for Obama as compared to 2008, canvassers said.

“It was kind of a different race,” Stephanie A. O’Connell ’13, a Harvard for Obama coordinator who volunteered in New Hampshire in 2008. Four years ago, Obama was “a new figure, not wrapped in politics. Now, a lot of it is about the issues,” she said.

Mendel and Menz, both veteran canvassers, walked out of campaign headquarters, stopping in the parking lot to chart their route.

The duo encountered a variety of reactions to their attempts to win blue votes.

At the first house that they visited, a disheveled middle-aged man in a red bathrobe emerged, holding back a few barking dogs.

“I don’t vote,” he said promptly, shutting the door behind him.

Drawing from a script provided by campaign headquarters, Mendel and Menz soon settled into a routine, taking turns to speak to voters.

“Can President Obama count on your vote on election day?” they asked again and again.

Often, no one would be home, and after a few minutes of tapping door knockers, they would leave promotional flyers under doormats and in door handles.