When the race for the Democratic presidential nomination was still in its infancy, Georgia was in Hillary Clinton's pocket.

That was November 2006. It wasn't until January of this year that Georgia flipped, and flipped big, for Barack Obama.

And Obama worked for it.

He drew 20,000 people to his first major Atlanta rally, in April 2007 at Georgia Tech. He built perhaps the largest, most enthusiastic army of volunteers, backed by huge investments in paid staff and technology, of any candidate the state has seen before.

After the Illinois senator won the Iowa caucus and proved he was a legitimate contender, Georgia moved his way, and fast. By the end of the first week in January, polls had him leading Clinton by 3 points. By the end of January, it was 16. He won the Georgia primary Feb. 5 by an astounding 35 percentage points.

His supporters' enthusiasm did not fade, either. Hundreds of Obama backers vied to be delegates to the Democratic National Convention, and supporters have continued to meet. They are at least partly responsible for the spike in voter registration, with thousands of African-Americans joining the voter rolls.

Whether this surge results in electoral success in Georgia is another matter. No Democratic presidential candidate has won here since 1992, when Bill Clinton had independent Ross Perot on the ballot to siphon off votes from George H.W. Bush. But Libertarian Bob Barr, the former Georgia Republican congressman, could pull votes from Republican John McCain.

News organizations are starting to list Georgia as a battleground state. Two polls taken in early May show McCain leading by 14 points. But Obama has shown before he can make a Georgia comeback.