The following is a Politico article:

Democrats here are bracing for what has long thought to be unthinkable: a loss.

With polls showing Democrat David Weprin trailing Republican Bob Turner in Tuesday’s special election for the seat of former Rep. Anthony Weiner, an air of desperation swept over party officials as they race to lock up support in a contest that appears to be slipping beyond their reach.

Democrats’ last, best hope is the well-honed Queens County Democratic Party machine, which has been preparing for weeks and is far better-positioned to bring its candidate over the finish line than the Turner effort, party brass insists.

They might be right: The Queens County Democratic Party headquarters, which houses the Weprin campaign and encompasses the entire second floor of a Forest Hills office building, is a bustling nerve center. On Monday afternoon, it was so packed with volunteers and staffers that reporters were asked to leave to alleviate the crowding. By contrast, Turner’s campaign headquarters — a compact space next to an Italian restaurant near John F. Kennedy International Airport — had just one staffer there at 8 a.m. the day before the election.

In a room adorned with pictures of Queens County Democratic power players, including Rep. Joe Crowley, the party chairman, and the late Rep. Thomas Manton, a row of desks is stacked with get-out-the-vote materials, organized in manila envelopes by neighborhood — part of what Weprin officials describe as a sophisticated Election Day operation. The campaign says it has 1,000 workers and by Tuesday will have contacted more than 200,000 voters — some more than once. With the assistance of the organized labor-backed Working Families Party, Democrats plan to target around 60,000 labor households.

The full weight of the Democratic Party has made a last-ditch effort to boost Weprin, a state assemblyman. Former President Bill Clinton, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Sen. Chuck Schumer recorded robocalls imploring Queens- and Brooklyn-area Democrats to cast their ballots for Weprin, and the candidate was joined on the stump by a slate of New York City councilmembers, including Speaker Christine Quinn.

But Weprin’s anxiety was palpable Monday, when he visited a Queens senior center and pleaded with a group of board-game-playing elders for their votes.

“It’s tomorrow,” he said, his tone desperate. “Please? We need your vote.”

Despite the advantages of running in a solidly Democratic area, the race has been a tough one for Weprin, whom Republicans have painted as a consummate politician and an ally of President Barack Obama, whose standing has diminished in the district.

At the senior event, Weprin approached Maureen Curran, a retiree who bluntly told him she was voting for Turner and that she was frustrated with the economy.

“I object to him coming into this place,” Curran said after Weprin walked away. “It’s not a Democratic stronghold. He should go up to the gym upstairs. It’s empty there.”

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