LARAMIE - Three University of Wyoming history and political science professors agree that the 2008 presidential election campaign between Barack Obama and John McCain has been, at least, "unusual."

Modern U.S. history professor William Moore thinks Obama's ability to collect large amounts of money independent of the party - and McCain's open rejection of the policies of his party and its sitting president - presage a major transformation of the political parties within 10 to 20 years toward parties that are more ideologically coherent.

One reason the campaign this year is unusual, according to Jim King, head of the political science department, "is because McCain, who has been in Congress for 25 years, is now trying to run as an outsider."

King noted that this has been a regular theme of other successful candidates in recent years, naming Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. But they actually were outsiders, King said.

This year's campaign, he said, shows that "when things are bad, any presidential candidate is going to run against the Washington establishment."

Moore also pointed to McCain's campaign, saying the course he has chosen will probably be seen as a milestone in future presidential histories.

"In my memory, I cannot recall an instance in the past century where a candidate has been so sharply and openly critical of the sitting president of his own party," Moore said. "He doesn't just hint at it, he's been dramatically critical, which is unprecedented, at least since the Democrats and William Jennings Bryan rejected the policies of their president, Grover Cleveland, in 1896."

Moore said the campaign is also unusual because both Obama and Sarah Palin have much less experience than those on presidential slates over the past several decades.

"I would say they are both odd choices," he said. "A presidential candidate who has not been a governor and has held a national office for less than four years, that is very unusual. And Palin is really a neophyte in this. Claiming that being the commander of her state's National Guard for a year and a half gives her defense credentials - people aren't going to buy that."

History professor Phil Roberts, who specializes in Wyoming history and once ran for governor as a Democrat, called the 2008 campaign "a very strange election." He pointed to the fact that neither President Bush nor Vice President Cheney appeared in person at the Republican convention and neither is campaigning actively for McCain.

"Most standard-bearers in the past several decades have felt they needed to stand by the president of their party," Roberts said, "but evidently the Republicans don't particularly care whether or not Bush is trashed these days."

Both King and Moore said the absence of personal appearances by Bush and Cheney at the Republican convention last month was unusual when viewed in the perspective of the past 60 years. Before that, they said, the sitting presidents did not ordinarily attend the conventions.

"It wasn't until transportation technology progressed to where getting to the convention was a matter of hours instead of days that the president appeared at the conventions," King said.

According to research provided by King, only one sitting president during the 15 presidential election years before 2008 did not attend his party's convention. That one was Lyndon Johnson in 1968, who did not attend the convention that saw the nomination go to Hubert Humphrey, his vice president.

"Because of growing opposition to the Vietnam War, there were concerns about his security," Moore said.

King attributes Johnson's non-appearance more to his own decision "to stay away knowing he'd receive a mixed greeting. His pattern was to avoid public appearances where critics might be."

Bush's absence personally from the convention this year - and the almost complete absence of any mention of Cheney - probably stem from McCain's desire to promote his "maverick" persona, the professors said.

McCain "is to some extent distancing himself from the incumbent Republican president," King said, "but this is not unlike 1968 when Humphrey distanced himself from Johnson, or in 2000 when (Al) Gore distanced himself from (Bill) Clinton."

The political parties today are not as important as they were in the 19th and well into the 20th centuries, Moore said.

"You can mobilize volunteers who are operating outside the organized party structures, and you can raise money independently using direct mailing experts and television advertising," he said.

"You don't have those party bonfire rallies and parades anymore," he added. "We've even gotten away from the pins that used to be widely distributed."

The selection of Palin as McCain's running mate is also an indication of this trend, Moore said. "She packages herself as having broken with her own party."

Roberts said Palin is less qualified for the position than either of Wyoming's U.S. senators "or even Rep. Cubin - or almost any sitting Republican governor or member of Congress, for that matter." He said he could name Wyoming legislators "with far superior qualifications for the job.

"It's almost like McCain didn't want someone competing with him on the experience issue, but it isn't unprecedented. (Richard) Nixon and Spiro Agnew, (Barry) Goldwater and William E. Miller come to mind," Roberts said.