LITTLE ROCK—Arkansas’ Democrats renewed their love affair with Hillary Rodham Clinton earlier this year. Now she’s asking them to give the guy they spurned another shot.

The former Arkansas resident turned New York senator returns Friday to the state that gave her 70 percent of the vote in the presidential primary. Clinton hopes to raise cash and support for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.

It’s the most high-profile wooing of the state’s Democrats since Obama won the nomination in a hard-fought battle with Clinton, who served 12 years as the state’s first lady. It may be their last shot at closing the gap in a state that Obama has mostly ignored and Republicans have touted as a lock for John McCain.

“I think she’s got the most intense political base of any person or persons in American political history,” said David Pryor, the chairman of the Democratic Party of Arkansas. “I think when she comes and says let’s work for Barack Obama and Joe Biden, I think her base will feel OK, we’ve heard it from Hillary and we’re OK to go.”

Pryor, a former governor and senator, said that Arkansas still has a shot at backing Obama in November. On paper, the state looks like a fertile ground for Democrats, who dominate the Legislature, all the constitutional offices and all but one of the congressional seats.

“I do think a lot of Arkansas Democrats believe that if any southern state is able to pull one out at the last minute for Obama, Arkansas is the best candidate for that,” said House Majority Leader Steve Harrelson of Texarkana.