The clock is ticking down to Tuesday's election and both Democrat and Republican campaign workers are scrambling to capture the votes of the ever-elusive undecided voter.

Four years ago the focus was on soccer moms. Now both parties are looking to win over the loyalties of a new, Internet-savvy breed of voters called "wired workers."

Pollsters have determined this group of young, technologically adept males to be the key demographic. These "wired workers" tend to be economically conservative but socially liberal, which makes them prime targets in this year's tight election.

The combination of ideologies causes this fiercely independent group of people to lean toward Libertarian values, associate professor of political science Robert O'Connor said.

"The anti-social nerd image (of Internet users) can be accurate in this case," O'Connor said. "They want to be left alone."

This group may be more attracted to Texas Gov. George W. Bush because of the Republican stance on Internet policy.

The Republican platform on technology is less government involvement, said College Republicans President T.J. Kokolis. This would mean that the government wouldn't tax Internet users nor have independent control of the Internet itself.

One of the main reasons that this group may be more likely to vote Republican is their views on Social Security, Local Coordinator of the Democratic Campaign Bob Shepard said.

"They don't have considerable wealth, but they are doing very well," Shepard said. "They are concerned about the wealth of the country as well as their own wealth."

The belief that Social Security will fail is not a legitimate concern, he said.

"I said the same thing when I was in college," Shepard said. "Social Security is the greatest single government program in the last 65 years and it will continue to be for the next 65 years as well."

The wired workers may vote for Al Gore based on his social policies, namely his stance on gun control, abortion and the separation of church and state.

College Democrats vice-president, Ali Altman, said the undecided block of tech voters is too diverse to make an impact.

"They (wired-workers) are not an organized group to swing one way or another," Altman said.

With the public favoring Gore at 42 percent and Bush at 45 percent, according to yesterday's MSNBC poll, both campaigns aren't taking any chances. The 7 percent of undecided voters are being courted heavily.

To win the election, both campaigns must craft a message that will appeal to the undecided but not alienate core supporters, O'Connor said. " You won't convince Jerry Falwell to support Gore," O'Connor said, "but you can go after the undecided or weaker supporters."