Democrats are so optimistic about their chances of convincing voters that Mr. Forrester is a conservative extremist that the Lautenberg campaign occasionally has the air of a front-runner.

In Algiers 5,000 associations and neighborhood committees have been entrusted with the task of convincing voters to go out and vote.

With elections scheduled in August, the governing party faces the challenge of convincing voters that current injustices will end even if it stays in power.

At one point, Mr. Rocard was even considering renaming the Socialist Party as a way of convincing French voters that he had something new to offer.

Highlighting her support among such once-hostile constituencies could enhance her chances of convincing voters that she could win a presidential election, should she decide to run.

If you need help in convincing voters, you have only to call on me.

As a first-term senator, Mr. Obama faces the challenge of convincing voters that he has the experience necessary to lead the nation in wartime.

So convincing voters of one's electability is not enough in this environment, Mr. Edwards said.

"You don't have the hurdle of convincing voters that women can do the job when the models include people without a Y chromosome," Burner told me recently.

They hoped it would be a means of convincing voters - and their own restless supporters - that the party was still bursting with initiatives after 13 years in office.