First Baby Steps

The 2008 Presidential race is under way.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. - The nation's presidential delegate selection process begins this week in Wyoming, where Republicans are choosing several people to attend county conventions next month where the national delegates will be chosen.

Volunteers for Republican candidates say they are working the phones to get their supporters to turn out at the GOP precinct caucuses, which began Tuesday and wrap up Dec. 20.

State Auditor Rita Meyer, a Mitt Romney supporter, said she's had to rely more on persuasion than her status when speaking with people who are undecided.

"I'm no Oprah, and I know it," she said, referring to the celebrity's endorsement of Democrat Barack Obama.

At the precinct caucuses, about a quarter of the delegates will be chosen for the GOP's county conventions Jan. 5. From there, 12 national delegates will be selected.

Wyoming Republicans voted in August to boost their profile by becoming the first state to select national delegates. Although the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses will be earlier, the state will not choose its delegates until much later.

Wyoming has paid a price for being early. The Republican National Committee is withholding half of its 28 delegates from the national convention.

Wyoming, however, can decide which delegates are withheld. As a result, all the delegates chosen at the county conventions will get to attend.

I wonder how many people outside of Wyoming are paying attention to this? If any of the major GOP candidates have campaigned in the sparsely populated state, I missed it.

Will results in Wyoming give us a taste of what will happen in January and February? The state is hardly typical of the rest of the country, but the same could be said of Iowa and New Hampshire. My guess is this will be little more than a blip on the road to finding out who the Republican nominee is.

Linked to- Adam, Pirate's Cove, Populist, Right Voices, Right Wing Nation,