Late in the afternoon this past Friday, four days before the election, the weekly “New York Democrats In Action” email went out to the State Democratic Party list. In large letters across the top was a reminder that polls would be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Election Day.

But those wondering who they should be voting for when they head to those polls could be forgiven for being confused.

Only by scrolling to nearly the bottom of the email, past updates about things like Gov. David Paterson’s swine flu declarations and his World Series wager with Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, was there a mention of the mayor’s race and an internal campaign poll showing Democratic nominee Bill Thompson behind by just three points.

The “Updates From The New York City Mayor’s Race” section contained only this. There was no last minute fundraising push or a number for people to call and volunteer, or anything else.

As he enters the final hours of his uphill battle against Michael Bloomberg, Thompson has been pulling out all the stops, circling the city and hoping to somehow cobble together a coalition to put him in Gracie Mansion. But for a candidate looking for all the help he can get, Thompson has not managed to get much help from either of the political parties on whose ballot lines he will appear on Tuesday.

The State Democratic Party, which provided communications and infrastructure support to past nominees, has not been out in force. Nor has the Working Families Party, which demonstrated its unmatched effectiveness in getting voters to the polls for its favored candidates in this year’s primaries and run-offs.

Jay Jacobs, the new Democratic state party chair, had pledged to step up efforts for Thompson after the primary, as had his predecessor, June O’Neill. But as is plainly evident to outside observers and confirmed by those with inside knowledge, those pledges have come to naught.

Jacobs did not return calls seeking comment.

As for the Working Families Party—though the Bloomberg campaign failed to keep Thompson from getting its endorsement and ballot line, the mayor’s team has since succeeded in securing or silencing most of the Party’s major forces and sources of money: 32 BJ and the Hotel/Motel Trades Union endorsed the mayor, and both the UFT and 1199 SEIU have sat out the race (though Bloomberg did pick up the endorsement of national SEIU chairman Dennis Rivera). The Communications Workers of America have released a half-million, three commercial blitz, and the Transit Workers Union went up on the air in the closing days of the campaign as well. But without the interest, bodies or cash to support an effort, the Bloomberg campaign believes it has neutralized the Working Families Party as a factor in the mayor’s race.

Plus, the Thompson campaign is not spending any money with Data & Field Services, the for-profit company which the Working Families Party set up to have candidates pay for its canvassing operation.

“We have our own extremely strong and robust field team and have not contracted out field work through DFS,” said Thompson campaign spokesman Mike Murphy.

Still, said WFP communications director Dan Levitan, the Party remains committed.

“WFP members and activists are online and in the streets, helping to bring Bill Thompson supporters to the polls and remind undecided voters why New York City needs change,” Levitan said, adding “all of our work will adhere to any rules governing contributions—they will be under-the-limit and we will disclose them to the campaign.”

According to Joe Mercurio, a political consultant not affiliated with any candidate in this year’s race, the lack of action from the Democrats and Working Families is a function of Thompson’s trailing poll numbers and what he believes is no chance to pull off a win.

“I don’t think it would have made any difference one way or the other, which is why they probably didn’t bother wasting resources,” Mercurio said. “It would be good money after bad for the state party and the Working Families Party.”

Mercurio noted, though, that even if they wanted to get involved, the parties would need to be cautious of the campaign finance laws restricting coordinated activities. With so much attention focused especially on Data & Field Services, this issue was of added concern, he said.

That is not good enough reason for some Thompson backers disappointed with the lack of support for their candidate.

“What just shocks me is the silence of the Working Families Party,” said one prominent political activist, criticizing the WFP for not being out at the same strength for the Thompson in the general election as they were for candidates like Bill de Blasio and John Liu during the primaries.

The lack of help cast doubt on the WFP’s decision to endorse Thompson, the activist suggested, claiming that it showed the Party was interested less in supporting his candidacy than having a candidate at the top of the ticket.

“When they went to people and asked for support for Thompson, they were not doing it because they wanted support for Thompson—they just wanted to protect the image of the party,” the activist said.

And in the eyes of that activist, the state Democratic Party also had reason to be ashamed, with consequences that might reverberate into next year’s state elections.

“I think that we should treat this as a failure for Paterson, because the state party had the opportunity to show what kind of campaign it is capable of under Paterson's leadership and it failed the test,” the activist said.

Thompson’s campaign, meanwhile, remains optimistic.

“Democrats from around New York City and New York State have lined up behind Bill and have been extremely helpful in getting Bill’s message out,” said Murphy.

A lot of the institutional manpower and energy which might have gone to Thompson seems to instead be focused on the upstate Congressional special election, where polls show Democratic candidate Bill Owens with a chance to flip a district which has been in Republican hands for years. Unlike for Thompson, the state Democratic Party has sent out a fundraising email specifically for Owens and rallied behind his candidacy, and the White House, which created the vacancy by appointing John McHugh as its army secretary, is dispatching Vice President Joe Biden to campaign for Owens on Monday. President Barack Obama campaigned yet again with embattled New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine on Sunday.

Asked whether similar helped had been asked for or offered from the White House, which many have called somewhat circumspect in its endorsement of Thompson, Murphy said simply, “Bill is proud to have the endorsement and support of the President Obama.”

Still, there are those who say there should have been more.

Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail Wholesale Department Store Union (RWDSU)—and a man who has emerged as one of Thompson’s strongest and most vocal backers—said he was disappointed not to see the state Democratic Party speaking out more about everything from $1 million Bloomberg gave to Abyssinian Baptist Church’s development corporation in advance of Rev. Calvin Butts’ endorsement to the number of Bronx families living below the poverty line to the steep unemployment numbers across the city. Those, Appelbaum said, are issues that the forces like the Democratic and Working Families parties should be drawing attention to, for the benefit of Thompson.

“There are principles involved,” Appelbaum said. “It’s not about personalities, it’s not about individuals. It’s about what sort of city we want this to be.”