Republicans hold second-in-nation caucuses tomorrow

Associated Press
Published: January 4, 2008
Updated: January 4, 2008

(AP) - Don't forget Wyoming.

Tomorrow's second-in-nation caucus seems to have gotten lost in the hype surrounding this week's Iowa vote and next week's New Hampshire primary.

Wyoming state Republicans had hoped to draw interest by holding caucuses a full month before most other states. Then others began pushing their contests earlier and earlier, and Wyoming found itself jammed between Iowa and New Hampshire.

Now Wyoming Republicans are trying to keep tomorrow's caucuses relevant by sending all 12 delegates who are chosen directly to the national convention.

Some candidates have paid attention to tomorrow's "Equality State" vote, but not all. Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, Duncan Hunter and Ron Paul have visited Wyoming since September. Mike Huckabee, Rudy Giuliani and John McCain have not.

So far, no candidate has announced plans to head west for the GOP county conventions. An exception could be Hunter, whose wife spent part of her childhood in southeastern Wyoming.

As a University of Wyoming political science professor put it, "the candidates are where the media are -- in Iowa and New Hampshire."