CHEYENNE - Politicians in recent years have become increasingly creative in their attempts to corner young voters.

Remember candidate Bill Clinton's attempt to literally "rock the vote" by appearing on MTV in 1992 with his saxophone?

In Wyoming, the number of young people continues to shrink as the population turns increasingly gray. But that hasn't stopped statewide candidates this year from trying to make their brand of politics look cool.

Incumbents and political hopefuls alike dotted the stands at last weekend's University of Wyoming football opener in Laramie. Some are turning to blogs and podcasts to attract the technology-savvy generation.

Gov. Dave Freudenthal is podcasting, and his daughters, Katie, 20, and Hillary, 27, are blogging about their campaign adventures on their dad's Web site. The campaign also is using a Web-based social networking site for university students to grow support on campus.

Ashley Hunkins, 26-year-old daughter of Republican gubernatorial candidate Ray Hunkins, has joined her father on the campaign trail. And Ray Hunkins recruited a couple of first-year UW law school students and former Cowboy football players to press the flesh around the state on his behalf.

"There isn't a demographic of course I'm not interested in," Hunkins in a Friday telephone interview. "But you have to approach different groups differently."

The candidates' hard work might be for good reason.

More than half of Wyoming's eligible voters aged 18 to 29 turned out for the last presidential election, a 6 percent jump from 2000.

And because youth voter enthusiasm tends to remain high during subsequent mid-term elections, teens and 20-somethings could play a larger part than normal this November, according to CIRCLE, a research group based in Maryland that studies voter turnout.

Dave Marcum, political science instructor at Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne, said it would be silly for candidates to ignore any demographic, even sometimes-reluctant youth voters.

And it makes sense that statewide candidates are employing the Internet and technology in their campaigns just like candidates for national office.

"There's a trend in using technology that young people interact with," Marcum said.

Clayton Elliott, director of internal affairs for the Associated Students at UW, applauded the candidates' efforts to motivate young voters. But he said their strategies might need some tweaking.

Candidates can blog until their fingers turn blue with no avail if students have never heard of the blogs, said Elliott, a third-year student in economics and environmental and natural resources.

"How many students on campus even know that those exist?" Elliott said. "It becomes almost a marketing issue."

He suggested old-fashioned campus rallies or a day on campus with students.

"You have to empower them," Elliott said. "If they feel like they can make a difference, they'll do it."

One reason candidates may be reluctant to go that far is the reality of Wyoming's voter landscape, said UW political scientist Jim King.

Regardless of the upswing in youth voting, the overall demographic remains small, he said. Candidates also may be unwilling to make the effort because many races in the GOP-dominated state are won by some margin.

"If we were looking at an election where everything looked 50-50, then every group that the candidates go after has a chance to swing the election," King said.

The lack of an explosive youth-oriented political issue this year also makes them less of a factor in the election, King said.

Which means you probably won't see any Wyoming candidates taking up the saxophone between now and November.

Reach capital bureau reporter Jared Miller at (307) 632-1244 or at jared.miller@casperstartribune.net.