Obama leads Clinton in Wyoming

Sen. Barack Obama appears to have beaten Sen. Hillary Clinton, his rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, in a state no one thought would matter.

With 12 of 23 Wyoming counties reporting, including Laramie, the most populous, Obama is ahead with 56.6% of the vote.

Clinton’s resurgence in the race this week – thanks to her victories in Ohio and Texas – means the fight for every delegate has become intense.

Wyoming, with only 12 delegates at stake, became a player for the first time in years. Both candidates campaigned here, which put a spotlight on the state’s Democrats, who are unaccustomed to that sort of attention. Wyoming, where more than two-thirds of voters are Republican, is often an afterthought in the Democratic presidential campaign.

Although there is no official turnout number yet, anecdotal reports indicate that Democrats turned out in record numbers.

“Look at these lines!” exclaimed former Wyoming Secretary of State Kathy Karpan. “I feel like I died and went to heaven.”

Here in the state’s capital, Democratic Party officials said 1,532 voters cast ballots. The voting, which took place in the auditorium of the Cheyenne Civic Center, had to be conducted in waves, because the venue was not large enough to hold everyone. Some voters ended up waiting in line for more than two hours to vote.

“We have been waiting too long,” said 47-year-old nurse Rebecca Crook, who had never been to a caucus. “But we’ll stay. I find this really exciting.”

Voters here in Laramie County cast paper ballots, which were then counted in a dressing room by four volunteers. They sat at brightly lighted makeup mirrors, under the eye of two out-of-state attorneys, one observing for Clinton, the other for Obama.

At precisely 9 this morning, Laramie County Democratic Chairman Mike Bell gaveled his county’s caucus to order. The civic center, with a capacity of 1,500, was nearly full, and hundreds of voters were still lined up outside, in a relatively balmy 38-degrees, waiting to sign in to cast their ballots in the Democratic presidential contest.

“Good morning Wyoming Democrats!” said Bell. “I gotta question for you: Where in the hell did you come from?”

The crowd roared its approval. He was right to ask: in 2004, exactly 160 people turned up for the Laramie County Democratic caucus. Across Wyoming, where 23 county caucuses will determine whom the state’s 12 delegates will support, turnout was beyond expectations.

“We have never had this many people at a state convention, let alone a caucus,” said Karpan, who surveyed the Cheyenne crowd. As a barbershop quartet sang the “Star Spangled Banner,” cowboys doffed their hats and folks who hadn’t made it inside the auditorium yet got antsy.

Half an hour before the caucus started, Sergeant at Arms Bobby Marcum, a 75-year-old veteran of two wars, stood on stage and took a straw poll. Supporters of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama took turns yelling for their candidate, hoisting campaign signs into the air.

“I’m gonna declare it a tie,” Marcum said.

Outside, near the back of the line, Wyoming’s first lady Nancy Freudenthal stood shivering with everyone else.

Her husband, Dave Freudenthal, is a popular two-term Democratic governor in a state that is dominated by Republicans. He has not publicly endorsed either candidate and his wife was reluctant to state her preference (though their 21-year-old daughter Katie was holding an Obama sign).

The crowd, said Nancy Freudenthal, “is nothing I expected. At Democratic events in Wyoming, you tend to see the same worker bees over and over. Today I see tons of new faces. This has great potential to revive the Democratic Party.”

At about 9:25 a.m., Karpan took the microphone to nominate her candidate, Clinton. She would be followed by Ken McCauley, a retired Air Force pilot, who would nominate Obama.

“However this turns out,” Karpan said, “stand up! Stand up and promise me you will support the nominee!”

The governor later declined to say whom he supported. “I don’t have to answer that question,” Freudenthal said, as he stood in the auditorium in blue jeans and a windbreaker.

He did talk about the turnout, though. “Obviously, we’re enthusiastic about the number of people here, to see the operation of democracy at its most inspiring,” he said.

Having both Clinton and Obama campaign in the state was a boon, he said. And as for the small number of Democrats in his overwhelmingly Republican state, he added, “It’s a little less lonely today than it was a couple of days ago.”

robin.abcarian@latimes.com