Doug Bennett, a Republican Boston City Council candidate, said Thursday that he has already knocked on more than 26,000 doors in Boston as part of his amped up grassroots campaign.

Bennett, who lives in the North End, is running for one of the council's four at-large seats. Currently two at-large councilors - Michael Flaherty and Sam Yoon - are rumored to be considering a run for mayor next year, which would create vacancies.

"What I am trying to do is maximize running a pure grassroots campaign," Bennett told PolitickerMA.com. "I'm trying to maximize my name exposure with people."

Bennett said he began his campaign in the middle of May and has set up a system that he believes will help voters remember his name when they go into the voting booths next November.

"A phone call goes out to people, then I try to hit their house that day or the next day so they know I'm coming out to see them," he said. "Then we try to follow that up with a letter."

Bennett said he is expecting low turnout for the 2009 election, so name recognition will be important. He is trying to knock on every door in the city three times before the election, he said, and plans to be through his first round by Jan. 1.

Bennett isn't the only candidate that is eyeing the council's at-large seats in the event that Yoon and Flaherty challenge Mayor Tom Menino. Felix Arroyo Jr. launched his campaign this month as did Haitian community organizer Jean-Claude Sanon and Marty Hogan of Dorchester. Tomas Gonzalez, a former Menino aide, is also rumored to be considering a run, and some are saying former Flaherty aide Andrew Kenneally may also be in the mix. And one of Yoon's staff, David Halbert, is reportedly eyeing a run.

Asked if he believes being a Republican hurts his chances even though Boston's city-wide races are nonpartisan, Bennett was quick to criticize the way the Massachusetts GOP has gone about campaigning recently and focused on the grassroots campaign he is building.

"They have forgotten how to do grassroots marketing," he said. "They think they only way they can win is through big time fundraising with radio and TV ads. I feel like the party needs to get back to the basics: Going door to door, block to block. If we can do that we'll start winning seats again."

Bennett also said his campaign staff is composed of Republicans, Democrats and Independents.
 
"It's nonpartisan," Bennett said, adding that he is trying to create "some of the magic that Barack Obama and Ron Paul had last yaer, where they were able to create tremendous grassroots support."

Last night Bennett held a small contribution fundraiser that he said drew 100 people and $1,000.

"Our economy is in a really bad situation right now," he said. "People don't have a lot of money to be donating. What I try to do is build organization. I've been throwing a series of monthly or bimonthly events to get people together around the city to organize."