The Wyoming Democratic Party intends to capitalize on a series of fortunate events.

* Sometime in the distant past: The state's perpetually minority, if not marginalized, party decided to hold its caucuses on Saturday, March 8, 2008, to elect delegates for its May convention.

* Sometime in the less distant past: Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., came from apparently nowhere to overtake once-presumed national Democratic presidential nominee shoe-in Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.

* Sunday, or thereabouts: The conventional wisdom held Obama was poised to deliver a knockout punch to Clinton on Tuesday in the delegate races in Vermont, Rhode Island, Texas and Ohio.

* Tuesday: Oops.

"We couldn't have imagined or contrived a more delightful scenario," party spokesman Bill Luckett said.

Barack, Hillary and the gang came and left Thursday and Friday, but they probably would not have bothered with Wyoming except for the intensified race days before the scheduled caucuses today, Luckett said.

Now, what for the party after the party?

"We certainly expect a lasting interest," he said.

Bump, oblivion

University of Wyoming political science professor Jim King thinks Democrats will get a long-term bump from this past week, too, he said.

"It can have cascading effects," King said.

Any attention is helpful, and Obama appeals to political newcomers, he said. "For the first time in my experience in Wyoming, the (Democratic) caucuses have a meaning."

What happened Thursday and Friday to woo caucus participants went well beyond candidate spokesmen or U.S. senators coming in from other states to give pep talks, he said. "We're talking about the headliners."

They came to court those who select 12 delegates - of a national total of more than 4,000 - at the state convention in Jackson on May 23-24, King said.

Looking at the big picture, those 12 won't have that much nationwide influence on the 2008 presidential race, he said.

But the international attention over the candidates' visits will give a boost to the party's work statewide, King said.

The state's lone U.S. House seat, being vacated by seven-term Republican Rep. Barbara Cubin, is up for grabs and could receive nationwide attention, he said.

Democratic Gov. Dave Freudenthal's second term ends in 2010, and the new energy could inspire some Democrats to run for that position, King said.

Wyoming political maven Liz Brimmer isn't so sure.

"Come Monday, (Wyoming) will be a fly-over state," said Brimmer, who was chief of staff for the late Republican U.S. Sen. Craig Thomas and ran the 2002 re-election campaign of Republican U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi.

The short-term effect of the candidates' visits is undeniable, she said. "It's like if Bono and Madonna came to Wyoming."

Brimmer agreed with King that Obama's and Clinton's appearances were to get delegates, not reshape the party.

But any deep galvanizing effect is unlikely, as they are much more liberal than mainstream Wyoming Democrats, she said.

Wyoming GOP Chairman Fred Parady agreed, saying Wyoming is a center-right state with a center-right Legislature.

Both parties played Wyoming well, with the attention from the GOP's caucus in January and the Democrats' caucuses today, Parady said.

"We had a little more than our customary oblivion," he said. "We're excited for this presidential race."

Like Brimmer, Parady also believes state politics will settle after this weekend, he said. "I just think it's momentary."

Hope in the hinterlands

Luckett demurred.

The Wyoming Democratic Party is experiencing a resurgence unlike anything in decades, and that was happening before the candidates' appearances, he has said.

More than 2,000 people registered recently as Democrats, with 1,300 of those in the three days before the Feb. 22 deadline for eligibility to participate in today's caucuses, he said.

The party is planning for up to 7,000 Democrats to participate in caucuses today, with as many as 900 in Natrona County alone, Luckett said.

That has mirrored the party turnouts nationwide, he said. "The Republicans don't enjoy this."

Parady retorted the GOP got between 2,700 and 2,900 new registrations before its January caucuses.

The increased registrations of Democrats, Luckett said, aren't the only reason for optimism for a renewed party.

For the past two presidential elections, Wyoming voters saw one of their own - Casper's and Jackson's Dick Cheney - on the ballot with George W. Bush, which weakened a lot of Democratic interest, he said.

The Cheney factor elevated Wyoming to being among the three reddest states, when historically it was more in the middle of the pack, Luckett said. "We're not going to be facing that disadvantage anymore."

He expects the new interest to extend to more Democrats interested in running for office and supporting those who do, he said.

Gary Trauner of Wilson, who is making a second bid for Wyoming's lone U.S. House seat, will have volunteers at the caucuses to recruit more volunteers, Luckett said.

He's not worried about the potential negative effects of a protracted primary campaign on party unity, because Clinton and Obama have pledged to support whomever the party nominates.

Likewise, Luckett doesn't think the loathsome "liberal" tag on Obama or Clinton sticks, because they've been promoting fiscal responsibility and fewer infractions on civil liberties, which used to be Republican values, he said.

Anyway, labels aren't nearly as important as having a broad range of views to better solve the state's challenges, said Rep. Debbie Hammons, D-Worland.

State politics turned monolithic in 1994 when the congressional delegation was all Republican, as were the top five elected statewide officials and majorities in both chambers of the Legislature, Hammons said.

"When we came out of the 1990s, I heard a level of cynicism among young people that was disheartening," she said.

However, the corrosive cynicism seems on the run in recent months with the presidential campaign, Hammons said.

"It's engaging a whole different group of people," she said, even in the Democratic "hinterlands" of Washakie County.

"There's hope for a new president; that it's not going to be the same old same old of the past," Hammons said.

Reach Tom Morton at (307) 266-0592, or at Tom.Morton@trib.com.