pound pavement and press flesh, etc,
reading Jeffrey Archer's "The Prodigal Daughter":
sth about election in US,
1. During the last three days of the campaign before the primary, Florentyna pounded pavement, pressed flesh and walked the entire length of Michigan Avenue.
2. In a heavier turnout than Edward had predicted, 49312 other people voted for Florentyna that day, while 42973 voted for Ralph Brooks.
question:
1. what does "pound pavement, press flesh" mean here?
2. why say "other people" here?
3. In US, is a democratic allowed to vote for republican candidate? or the other way round,
especially when he/she is a registered democratic?
thank you for your help and your time

Question

pound pavement and press flesh, etc,
reading Jeffrey Archer's "The Prodigal Daughter":
sth about election in US,
1. During the last three days of the campaign before the primary, Florentyna pounded pavement, pressed flesh and walked the entire length of Michigan Avenue.
2. In a heavier turnout than Edward had predicted, 49312 other people voted for Florentyna that day, while 42973 voted for Ralph Brooks. 
question:
1. what does "pound pavement, press flesh" mean here?
2. why say "other people" here?
3. In US, is a democratic allowed to vote for republican candidate? or the other way round, 
especially when he/she is a registered democratic? 
thank you for your help and your time

Answer

To answer your third question, Americans are free to vote for whomever they support regardless of party affiliation. Registering as a Democrat or Republican additionally entitles voters to participate in their party's primary election to select that party's presidential candidate.

Answer

I'll answer #3 since Peachey did a fine job of answering the first two.

3. Choosing a political party in America is not a binding agreement. You can always vote for the candidate you prefer, no matter what party they are in. Registering with your party, I believe, allows that party to send you information and call for donations and volunteers because you have let them know that you are in their party.

I think most Americans, regardless of their preferred party, do not register with that party.

Answer

1. "To pound the pavement" means to walk along a street, usually because it's part of your job (ie. Florentyna needed to do this to meet people). "Press the flesh" means to shake hands with someone.

2. I guess some people were mentioned in the previous sentences. "Other people" would mean "apart from the people already mentioned".

3. No idea, in principle. Still,if a person's vote is anonymous, then there's nothing stopping a candidate from voting for the opposing party.