Menino, Flaherty keep up intensity

The mayor, after appearances at St. John Chrysostom Parish in West Roxbury, Morning Star Baptist Church in Mattapan, and Ebenezer Baptist Church in the South End, remarked, “I’ve got more God points today than anyone.’’

But Flaherty by that time already had been to five services, including Holy Tabernacle Church and Mount Olive Kingdom Builders in Dorchester and Eglise de Dieu de la Pentecote Libre, a Haitian church in Mattapan.

“Two days left to go,’’ Flaherty told one congregation. “And I’m too blessed to be stressed.’’

As the most competitive race for mayor in 16 years entered its final days, the campaigns continued their hectic pace. After the church visits, both candidates attended rallies in a final push to pump up supporters who will help get people to the polls tomorrow. Menino hosted gatherings at Hibernian Hall in Roxbury and Bella Luna Restaurant in Jamaica Plain, while Flaherty had a rally at the Hampton Inn on the Roxbury-South End-Dorchester line.

Boston election officials said more voters are registered for this election than for any mayoral race in more than a decade. There are 283,186 voters on the rolls. That’s roughly 10,000 more than in 2005 and 25,000 more than in 2001. Some 6,500 have registered since the preliminary election in September.

Voters who can’t make it to the polls have until noon today to apply for an absentee ballot at Boston City Hall.

Both candidates stuck to their campaign messages yesterday, with Menino urging voters to help him continue to move Boston forward and Flaherty telling them it’s time for a change.

At Kingdom Builders, Flaherty told congregants he had been there before, not for worship but for a funeral. He said that half of homicide victims in Boston are between the ages of 14 and 23, and he said 24,000 students have dropped out of city schools since Menino took office in 1993.

“Folks, we can do better,’’ he said, eliciting an “amen’’ from some in the crowd.

Flaherty said that if he is elected, he will counter youth violence with better schools and more jobs. And he said his Cabinet would be more diverse than Menino’s, which includes two African-Americans among its 15 members.

“This is our city and our time to turn the page,’’ he said. “I ask you to have the courage to change on Tuesday.’’

The mayor, meanwhile, thanked congregants at Ebenezer Baptist for their support and spoke about his love of music and devotion to God.

“He’s the one who directs our lives,’’ Menino said, prompting an “amen’’ from the crowd.

The mayor said Boston is a different city from the one he grew up in, a city that has progressed considerably but still has further to go.

“We’re moving forward every day,’’ he said. “Let’s continue to work together to move Boston forward.’’

Some political observers say that’s just the tone Menino needs to strike to earn another four-year term. Former city councilor and onetime mayoral candidate Bruce Bolling said that as the city’s longest-serving mayor with 16 years already under his belt, Menino has “created a lot of good will over the years that obviously is paying dividends in this election.’’

“He does retail politics better than anyone I’ve seen,’’ said Bolling, who is now executive director for the Massachusetts Alliance for Small Contractors and attended a Menino rally yesterday. “He’s in the neighborhoods every single day of the week. He’s communicating with people. He’s self-deprecating.’’

Bolling and others questioned whether Flaherty has done enough to overcome Menino’s comfortable lead. A Globe poll last month showed the mayor with a 52 percent to 32 percent margin.

Avi Green, executive director of MassVOTE, a nonpartisan civic education organization, said Flaherty has faced an uphill battle in making a case for change.

“It’s a hard case to make and I’m not sure Flaherty was successful in making it,’’ Green said. “Everyone would like change, there’s no jobs, things are getting cut everywhere, but to say the reason there’s no jobs is because of Mayor Menino’s performance - I just don’t think most people think that. People in Boston are more likely to blame George W. Bush for their problems than Mayor Menino.’’

Still, Green said, “Anything could happen. Flaherty could pull it off.’’

Yesterday afternoon, basking in a chorus of gospel music and waves of sustained applause, Menino stood before a raucous crowd at Hibernian Hall in Dudley Square and pledged to keep working for neighborhoods like Roxbury.

“The other campaign is falling off the tracks,’’ Menino said. “I know what track I’m on, the one to move this city forward.’’

The event, which featured a large group of civic and religious supporters from the city’s minority neighborhoods, had the feel of a coronation more than a campaign rally. The Rev. Gregory G. Groover Sr., pastor of the historic Charles Street AME church and a Menino appointee who is chairman of the Boston School Committee, even suggested that Menino had divine support.

“We believe, God, that you have called him to be our mayor for the next four years,’’ Groover said in his invocation.

Supporters in the crowd cited a strong personal connection with the mayor. Felicia Jones, 39, of Roxbury, said before Menino spoke that he had helped her and her two young children move from a shelter to a place of their own several years ago.

Jones said she approached the mayor, whom she had never met before, and asked him, “Can you help me? I’ve fallen behind. You need to help me and my children.’’

With his help, Jones said, she moved into an apartment the next day.

In stark contrast to the mayor’s bustling, old-fashioned campaign rally in Dudley Square, Flaherty and running mate Sam Yoon carved out time in the busy day to sit down with four young black professionals late yesterday afternoon at a restaurant near Boston Medical Center.

Sitting with members of a black advocacy group called the Greatest Minds at a small round table in Rudi’s, the candidate repeated his mantra that Boston needs better schools, more jobs, and less violence.

As Flaherty spoke at length, the group paid close, silent attention. “We are confident that we can win this race,’’ Flaherty said. “Day one of the Flaherty administration will be different than day one of the 17th year of the Menino administration.’’

The group nodded as Flaherty added, “if there’s anything you need, let us know.’’

Director of the Greatest Minds, George Greenidge Jr., who is president of the National Black College Alliance, said the nonpartisan organization invited Flaherty and Yoon to chat with them as a way to “energize the community about the mayoral candidates.’’

The group will not endorse a candidate, however, he said.

“This is a small group, but their network is huge,’’ Flaherty said. “It’s time well spent because they can reach people we’re not able to. Over the next 48 hours, our campaign needs to become viral.’’

Flaherty insisted that his internal tracking polls show him within single digits of the mayor.

“It’s the undecideds who will decide this race,’’ he said.

Brian MacQuarrie and Stephanie Ebbert of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com.