As hundreds of congressmen and President Bush cut short vacations to intervene, they also hoped to broaden the party's hold on power.

Republicans acknowledged the goal of using the Schiavo case as ammunition against Democrats, particularly Florida Sen. Bill Nelson.

Meanwhile, Democratic Rep. Jim Davis of Tampa, a candidate for governor next year, put himself at the center of the controversy, acting against what would have been his own pollster's advice by taking a lead role opposing the Schiavo legislation.

Davis announced he would block voice-vote passage of the Schiavo bill Sunday night, alone if necessary, and played a prominent role objecting on the House floor and in news conferences.

Republicans Take Aim

Davis and Nelson, who is running for re-election next year and is Florida's only Democrat elected statewide, may be the top two Democrats on Florida's 2006 ballot.

Republicans are aiming to energize their base of religious conservatives, and it likely will work, several political analysts said.

``The Schiavo case is perfect, powerful political symbolism for reinforcing support among social and cultural conservatives,'' said University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato.

A memo circulating among Republican senators acknowledged the goal.

``This is an important moral issue and the pro-life base will be excited,'' the memo states, noting that Nelson ``has already refused to become a cosponsor and this is a tough issue for Democrats.''

The pressure may have affected Nelson.

He refused to sign on to the first, broader version of the Schiavo bill that would have allowed federal court review of cases involving ``incapacitated persons'' without a living will. But he joined his colleagues in supporting the narrower measure, affecting only Schiavo.

Nelson could not be reached for comment Monday.

Political strategist Brian Nick of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which works to elect Republicans to the Senate, said Nelson could be a tough target because he has ``demonstrated an ability to appear moderate.''

``We'll have to make sure that doesn't happen again, and it's issues like partial-birth abortion, how he appeared to be on the Schiavo case ... and his general record of being out of the mainstream that will help us,'' Nick said.

Pollster Wary Of Davis Move

Davis' pollster, Democratic veteran Harrison Hickman, said he would have warned Davis, if asked, to take a lower- profile role.

``I think the safer political course would have been to be quiet,'' Hickman said.

But Davis said the GOP approach, including issuing a subpoena to the brain-damaged woman in an attempt to keep her hooked up to a feeding tube, made him ``furious.''

``This may turn out to be one of the most significant abuses of power by Congress in decades,'' he said Monday.

He flew to Washington on Sunday prepared to block a voice-vote passage alone. A handful of other Democrats joined him.

University of South Florida political scientist Susan MacManus said the issue can only help Republicans.

Besides religious voters, she said, it will also affect a larger group, ``the married vote and family vote,'' and an underestimated voting group, the disabled. About 17 percent of Florida households include a disabled person, she said.

Even if some voters consider the intervention politically motivated, said East Carolina University political science professor Richard C. Kearney, ``It doesn't cost [the Republicans] anything ... After all, they can always say they're on the side of life and an ethical person.''

But some Democrats say the GOP may feel a backlash from voters who don't favor government intervention in end-of- life decisions.

``I think it's going to come back and bite them on the butt,'' said state Sen. Walter ``Skip'' Campbell, D-Tamarac. ``To take a tragedy of life and make it a political issue is the most absurd, uncaring, un- American form of behavior I have ever seen.'' he said.

Florida's huge contingent of elderly voters has a personal stake in the issue, said Margaret Lynn Duggar, a consultant in the field of elderly issues, and a Republican.

In conversations with her, she said, ``A lot of them have expressed serious concern about government getting involved in these decisions, overriding what appears to have been a person's decision.''

Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, a Crystal River Republican whose district includes more retirees than any other in the nation, broke party ranks to vote against the measure.

In the state's close 2004 presidential election, the religious conservative base was enough to turn the tide.

According to exit polls, about 15 percent of Florida voters identified themselves as ``white conservative Protestant,'' and of those, 95 percent voted for Bush. Some 20 percent of all voters said ``moral issues'' were the most important in the election, and of those, 80 percent voted for Bush.

Nationwide, most polls show a majority of voters do not approve of legislative interference in the Schiavo case.

In an ABC news poll taken Sunday, 63 percent of those surveyed said Schiavo's feeding tube should be removed. Sixty-seven percent said the politicians pushing the legislation were more concerned about political advantage than principle. The poll has a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points.

In the 2004 election, conservatives nationwide used gay marriage to stoke turnout.

Conservative groups got measures banning gay marriage on ballots in 11 states. All passed.