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Four years ago, publicizing New Mexico's early February presidential caucus was easy: Democratic hopefuls swarmed into the state dozens of times over several weeks, sending out mass mailings that instructed voters when and how to vote, and making headlines as they came and went.

That year, New Mexico drew gobs of national attention as one of the "Super Seven" states to hold caucuses or primaries after the Iowa and New Hampshire contests.

This year is another story — New Mexico's Democratic caucus is among 22 state nominating contests Feb. 5, including big prizes such as California and New York.

Brian Colón, chairman of the state Democratic Party, said that without the injection of money from the candidates' get-out-the-vote efforts, it will be tough to get people to the polls next Tuesday.

"The only thing that I kind of lose some sleep over is I wish I had half a million dollars to promote the thing," Col¢n said during a recent break from answering phones at the party's Albuquerque headquarters.

"I think we will have had great success in New Mexico if we turn out 30,000 to 40,000 people," he said. That compares with about 105,000 votes cast in 2004.

Colón says the party's job is to run the caucus, which is estimated to cost about $250,000. The rest, which includes publicizing the contest, is up to the candidates' campaigns.

"We don't have the budget or the wherewithal to do a million dollars worth of advertising to our over half a million Democrats across the state. We just don't have those kinds of resources, so we rely on the candidates to do that," he said.

Carlos Monje, state director for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's campaign, said the campaign's field staff is growing rapidly in preparation for the caucus. Workers are going door to door and making phone calls to voters. The campaign is working on a New Mexico Web site to help spread the word about the caucus and will organize rides for voters to the polls.

"That will be part of the message going forward: to make sure people know to vote and know where to vote," he said.

Mara Lee, state director for New York Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign, said staffers are working at the grass-roots level to get out the vote.

"We're organizing around the kitchen table and having a lot of house parties," she said.

Absentee ballot requests reflect Colón's projections of low turnout. The party received about 5,300 requests this year, compared to 29,945 such requests in 2004. Absentee ballots must be postmarked no later than Monday for the vote to count.

Several county party officials in more populated areas of the state sounded frazzled as they tried to locate enough volunteers, grappled with finalizing polling places and readied advertisements for local media in the two weeks before the caucus. But officials in the smaller towns generally said their preparations were going smoothly.

Despite its name, the caucus is run like a primary. Polls will open at noon and voters who are in line at 7 p.m. will still be able to vote. If voters go to the wrong polling place, they will get a provisional ballot.

No identification is required for voting, but voters must have been registered Democrats by Jan. 4 to participate.

Appearing on the ballot are Obama, Clinton and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards. The order they appear was determined by a drawing.

Also on the ballot are a number of candidates who have bowed out of the race, including Gov. Bill Richardson, Sens. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Joe Biden of Delaware and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich.