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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