Mike Sullivan spent 2 1/2 years as ambassador to Ireland during Bill Clinton's second term as president.

And the man who is supporting Clinton's wife to be the Democratic nominee in November knows that Wyoming could play a pivotal role when the party caucuses next weekend.

Supporters and staffers from both Sen. Hillary Clinton's and Sen. Barack Obama's campaigns are creating a frothy atmosphere for the March 8 caucuses.

Sullivan, who spent 30 months as ambassador to the Republic of Ireland and travels there frequently, said even some of his friends across the Atlantic are asking him about Wyoming's suddenly important role in picking the Democratic presidential nominee.

He recently talked to a farmer over there, he said, who remembers the 1960 convention when Wyoming's delegates sent John F. Kennedy to the Democratic nomination. The farmer is keenly interested in what the Cowboy State will do on Saturday.

"I think it's remarkable," Sullivan said Friday. "They're totally engaged in what's going on in the United States."

Depending on what occurs on Tuesday, when Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas and Vermont host primaries, Wyoming could once again help determine whether Obama or Clinton goes up against the Republican nominee.

"It's a wonderful time to be a Democrat in Wyoming," said Bill Luckett, communications director for the state Democratic Party.

Luckett, like other Democrats in the state, seemed nearly breathless in describing the state's position. There's been so much interest, he said, that numerous county Democratic committees have moved their caucuses to larger venues to accommodate a swell of people wanting to participate.

As long as people registered as a Democrat as of Feb. 22, they can caucus.

The excitement surrounding Wyoming's caucuses has led to a surge of at least 2,000 new Democratic voter registrations since Jan. 1, he said.

"We have no idea what to expect. There's no way to gauge this sort of thing," he said, noting that particularly conservative Idaho pulled in 21,000 Democrats for its caucuses on Super Tuesday. "Ours is even later in the race, while it's still a dogfight."

The energy has largely been self-driven, too, he said, citing the voter-registration surge and noting that Democrats raised $1,800 in one day two weekends ago to secure a larger caucus venue in Laramie County.

"We don't need to lift a finger to be energized," he said. "This year, Wyoming Democrats matter, and they're energized."

Both camps have powerful allies on their side. Clinton's steering committee includes Sullivan and former Wyoming Secretary of State Kathy Karpan, as well as a current state senator and two state representatives.

Obama has secured the endorsement of state Senate minority caucus Chairman Mike Massie and House Minority Whip Debbie Hammons, as well as State Senate minority leader Ken Decaria, among other state legislators.

This weekend, both camps are bringing in powerful Democrats from other states to stump for them.

Clinton's office is bringing New Mexico Lt. Gov. Diane Denish to campaign and attend the Democrats' Nellie Tayloe Ross dinner in Cheyenne this evening. Obama is bringing in Iowa Gov. Chet Culver for a canvass kickoff in Laramie today as well.

The reason for all this activity, Obama spokeswoman Shannon Gilson said, is simple.

"All eyes will be on Wyoming on the 8th," she said.

Obama has shown he can pull in the votes out West. He took Idaho, and he split the vote in Nevada, while wrapping up Washington state and Kansas.

"We think he's the right fit for Wyoming," Obama state director Gabe Cohen said. It doesn't hurt that Obama is from Illinois, a coal-producing state that was picked as the site for the now-dropped FutureGen project that would have produced clean energy using coal.

Clinton's campaign, on the other hand, has been slowly building in Wyoming for months.

"We've been honored and very pleasantly surprised," said Clinton state director Jon Lipshutz, who helped open Clinton's offices on Wednesday. "It was nice to see a grassroots campaign even before we got here."