A Newcastle man serenaded Nick Carter with his violin and the song he wrote after his wife died.

Last week, a puppy in Rock Springs peed all over the hands of Carter's campaign manager.

Carter almost got in a fight with a Casper man who cursed and threatened him for being a Democrat.

"Just because I'm running for office doesn't mean I won't pull you out of that car and teach you a lesson," Carter said.

Just another day on the campaign trail for a would-be senator.

Win or lose, Democrat Nick Carter will have stories to share from his 2008 campaign for U.S. Senate long after the ballots are counted on Nov. 4.

Though he is an underdog against incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, Carter and his two main staffers remain positive. In the few weeks before the election, the trio continued its statewide, door-to-door campaign talking with Wyoming citizens. Last week, Carter visited Rock Springs with his campaign manager, Eric Hevenor, and field manager, Kyle Willmer.

"Oh, I've met you before," Karl Barney said from his front porch in Rock Springs. "It's good to see you out.".

Carter and potential constituent Barney exchanged some thoughts about the need for change. Then, Carter offered Barney a yard sign.

As Carter turned to leave, he invited Barney to have a beer with him at the Bitter Creek Brewing Company that night. The owners were throwing him a party.

Barney declined the drink, but said, "I should be able to make it, if the railroad doesn't call me in."

Door-to-door campaigning might give him a false sense of hope, Carter said.

With such a positive response, it's hard for him to think about losing.

Carter, a defense attorney from Gillette and political novice, said door-to-door campaigning has been a necessity because of his limited budget and his lack of notoriety outside Campbell County.

People say they are surprised to see the actual candidate knocking on doors.

"I was fearful the first couple of times," Carter said. "I thought it would be like selling vacuums."

Residents have been much more friendly to Carter than to the vacuum seller.

The construction noise on the street was loud so Billy Shalata invited Carter inside. Shalata's living room quickly turned into a mini candidate forum.

"In the last presidential debate, people talked about 'Is it a right or privilege?,'" Shalata said about health care.

"I'm in the middle of the road with health care," Carter said.

He explained his catastrophic coverage plan while sitting on Shalata's couch. It would prevent people from declaring medical bankruptcy. People pay into it like social security and can use it if they are in a major accident or have a serious illness.

"OK, let's go toward a world problem -- Iraq," Shalata said.

"We marched in quickly. I think we can march out quickly," Carter replied.

Shalata, a registered Democrat, said he agreed with Carter and again fired another question at Carter about giving money to countries that don't like America. And another about "golden parachutes" for chief executive officers.

"You answered all my questions," Shalata said. "Everyone has their own opinions, but we are sitting on the same side of the fence on most things. You have a tough road ahead."

Carter left the house and met with his staffers down the street.

"Did you get him?" Willmer asked.

Carter nodded.

They call the motor home they travel in "a rolling billboard." In it, they've had some near-death experiences including run-ins with both carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide -- the latter sent Hevenor to the hospital after an incident with dry ice and unfrozen freezer pops.

The door-to-door campaign began in a chilly April after Carter announced his plans to run and continued through the hot summer.

On the sunny fall day in Rock Springs, the three men stopped to eat apples from a tree while the owners raked leaves. They walked several blocks with a brown dog named Buddy.

And there was a house covered in McCain signs.

"Do you want the McCain house?" Willmer asked.

Carter did, but no one was home.

A house in Casper had a Barrasso sign in the front yard, but Carter went to the door anyway. He said, "I see you are a Barrasso supporter, but I'm Nick Carter and I was wondering if you would read this."

The woman who answered the door said her husband was the Barrasso supporter. He helped her put a Nick Carter sign right next to the Barrasso sign.

They have knocked on doors in every county seat and other cities, Willmer said.

Carter said it doesn't matter where in Wyoming he travels, he always meets at least one person with which he has a connection.

At the Bitter Creek Brewing Company, Carter ran into a former prom date. Carter took Liisa Anselmi-Dalton, of Rock Springs, to the Campbell County High School prom. Even though they lived in different cities, they knew each other through speech and debate competitions.

Larry Caller, owner of Bitter Creek and a former state senator, invited Carter and the other Democrats running for Congress, Chris Rothfuss and Gary Trauner, for an event.

Willmer said Rothfuss and Carter could work a room well together. Rothfuss was funny, while Carter can be kind of vulgar.

"If Chris, Gary and I get to the Senate and House, we are going to put a boot square up somebody's behind in Washington," Carter said. He said that's what it means to be Wyoming Tough, his campaign slogan.

About 30 people drank beer with the candidates, ate donkey-shaped cookies and talked about issues.

As the party began to dwindle, guests looked around to say good-bye to Carter but had trouble finding him. He and Rothfuss were cozied up to the bar ordering beers talking to some young men about the election.

Carter joked about campaigning, "That's how Democrats do it."

Contact reporter Allison Rupp at (307) 266-0534 or allison.rupp@trib.com.

This is the first in a series of day-in-the-life profiles of Wyoming candidates in all three congressional races.