GOP, DFL activists make final appeals

On the last weekend before the election, Minnesota Republicans and Democrats were making final appeals to get their supporters to the polls.

Volunteers were doing a lot of the get-out-the-vote work for candidates and political parties. At a DFL "action center" in Eagan, Chuck Smith-Dewey was working the phones.

He supports the Democratic health care overhaul known as Obamacare and thinks health care is the biggest issue of the election.

"I don't like receiving these phone calls as a person, so it's a little bit awkward making them," he said, "but I think the stakes are high enough that I'm happy to do it."

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In neighboring Burnsville, Bruce Thorsen was calling from the Republican "victory center."

Thorsen volunteered for the Republicans because he wants a less intrusive government.

"America was founded to be free of government, not people controlled by government," he said.

Thorsen, a retiree from Prior Lake, explained why he volunteered: "I think our freedoms are being encroached upon, and the Constitution is being diluted."

In addition to the phone calls, volunteers are canvassing neighborhoods and dropping campaign brochures.