Whether Saturday's Wyoming Democratic presidential caucuses grab national attention depends in large measure on what happens today in Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont, party officials and observers say.

If Sen. Barack Obama continues his string of primary victories and does so convincingly, rival Sen. Hillary Clinton could call it quits. But if Clinton manages to score any victories - or at least slow Obama's momentum - the tight race could thrust Wyoming Democrats into the spotlight.

"It's logical that if the race tightens up some tomorrow, Wyoming could stand to gain more national attention," said Bill Luckett, communications director for the state Democratic Party.

Clinton and Obama have been waging a tough and competitive race for the party's nomination, but Obama has seized the momentum, reeling off 11 straight wins in primaries and caucuses since Super Tuesday on Feb. 5. Still, Obama holds a slim lead in the Associated Press delegate count, 1,386-1,276, and experts say today's primaries aren't expected to dramatically widen the gap.

University of Wyoming political science professor Jim King said Monday he'd be "very surprised to see a change in the candidates' status" as a result of today's voting.

"The polls suggest a split between the two Democratic candidates, which means everything will stay in play," he said.

"Everything" this year includes Wyoming, traditionally a Republican stronghold with little influence on the Democratic presidential nomination.

While the state will send just 18 delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August, every delegate may be important this year. In addition, the timing of Saturday's Wyoming county conventions is crucial: No other states are having primaries or caucuses this weekend, and the next big contest isn't until April 22 in Pennsylvania.

That's why the Obama and Clinton campaigns have set up offices in Wyoming and have paid staffers working to turn out supporters at the county caucuses.

Might the state even see one or both of the candidates in person before Saturday?

"There's a chance they will visit," King said. "They're reaching an exhaustion point, obviously, and time to sit back is valued at this point. But because we're the only event, you could see one or both make some sort of appearance the latter part of the week."

Neither the Obama nor the Clinton camps said Monday that any such visits were planned. Today, all the attention is focused eastward.