Wyoming’s in the wings

Don’t forget Wyoming.

It’s been overlooked in the hoopla surrounding Thursday’s Iowa caucuses and next week’s New Hampshire primary, but Wyoming Republicans will caucus on Saturday and choose delegates to the national convention in September.

Candidates have paid little attention to the state, though.

Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, Duncan Hunter and Ron Paul have passed through since September. Mike Huckabee, Rudolph W. Giuliani and John McCain have not. “Yes, there have been some appearances by the candidates in this state that otherwise wouldn’t have occurred this early in the process,” said Jim King, who teaches political science at the University of Wyoming. “But candidates are where the media are -- in Iowa and New Hampshire.”

So far, no candidate has announced plans to head west for the state GOP’s county conventions Saturday. An exception could be Hunter, who has been to several of the state’s larger cities and held out the possibility of a last-minute visit. His wife spent part of her childhood in Wheatland, in southeast Wyoming.

Whether anyone has an advantage is unknown. There has been no public polling .