ALBANY – Looking to reverse a decade-long slide in Congress, Democrats in Washington are turning to party leaders in New York for advice.

The minority whip of the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Steny Hoyer, made a rare two-day trip to Albany this week, meeting with the Democratic minority leader of the state Senate, David Paterson, and the Democratic speaker of the Assembly, Sheldon Silver, among other state Democrats.

Mr. Paterson has been critical of national party leaders for courting celebrity donors and for focusing on national issues, as opposed to the sort of grassroots organizing that is said to have helped Republicans retake both houses of Congress and win two consecutive presidential elections over the past decade. Mr. Hoyer’s two-day visit suggests there is an interest in Mr. Paterson’s views at the national level.

“The thing they wanted to talk to me about is this theory I have that Republicans have done what they’ve done by building through the states,” Mr. Paterson said. “The best way to do it is to build the apparatus from within.”

He said Mr. Hoyer’s visit was only the third time in his 20 years as a legislator that he remembers a leading national Democrat coming to Albany to discuss strategy. He said they discussed the possibility of sharing state and national resources to gain Democratic seats in Albany and Washington. Mr. Hoyer said the Democratic National Committee intends to pump money into New York to help Democrats gain seats at the state and national levels this year and beyond.

“I’m not here representing Governor Dean,” Mr. Hoyer said, referring to the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Howard Dean. “But there is zero doubt in my mind that he would want to assist both in the gubernatorial race and in the state legislative races, as well as congressional races.”

Mr. Hoyer’s interest in meeting with Mr. Paterson was twofold. The New York State Senate is currently split 35-27 in favor of the Republicans, but some think it could swing toward the Democrats over the next several years. Democrats picked up three Senate seats in the last election and lost another seat by a mere 18 votes. By pledging to support state Democrats, Mr. Hoyer is helping Mr. Paterson achieve his goal of a Democratic majority in the state Senate.

As payback for that support, Mr. Paterson would be expected to help Mr. Hoyer on the national level by cultivating potential congressional candidates. The two men said they view Rep. Vito Fossella, a Republican of Staten Island, and Rep. Sue Kelly, a Republican of Rockland County, as politically vulnerable.

Mr. Paterson also called Long Island, where Democrats have regained a number of municipal posts from Republicans in recent years, the “new frontier” for Democrats in New York.

“We’ve got to stop ignoring state and local problems in favor of the larger discussions of who’s going to be the next presidential candidate,” Mr. Paterson said. “The state of Texas raised $12 million for Clinton in 1992 and $14 million for Clinton in 1996 and all the money went to the national campaign and they got decimated statewide.”

The view that party strength builds locally has been axiomatic among political organizers for years. But after losses in the House and the Senate in November, Democrats appear to be eager to relearn the basics.

Mr. Paterson said Mr. Hoyer’s staff arrived at his office Tuesday with a map of New York’s congressional districts and got right down to the business of discussing vulnerable state and national Republican seats.

“They came prepared and very organized,” Mr. Paterson said.

The two-day visit also helped Mr. Hoyer, a Democrat of Maryland who was born in Harlem and attended grade school in New York City, to disseminate the national Democratic message. Aides to Mr. Paterson invited reporters from about a dozen state and city newspapers to a lengthy discussion on the party’s future in the state and nation yesterday.

In his meeting with reporters, Mr. Hoyer said Senator Kerry lost the November presidential election to President Bush because of a perception that he was soft on national security. Referring to the 2008 presidential election, Mr. Hoyer called Senator Clinton “the leading candidate on almost every Democrat’s mind.”

Mr. Hoyer said he thinks this year’s New York City mayoral race will be difficult for Democrats because of Mayor Bloomberg’s cross-party appeal and money. “It will be tough,” Mr. Hoyer said. “We’ve got an incumbent Democrat who calls himself a Republican, and he’s got 5 billion in his jeans.” Mr. Bloomberg switched his party affiliation in the run-up to the 2001 mayoral election.

Following a national trend among Democrats nationally, Mr. Hoyer cited religion as central to the formation of his political beliefs. “I happen to be a Christian,” Mr. Hoyer said. “Christ taught me to care for the least among us. We think that is a very important value. And while I’m a very strong supporter of the separation of church and state, I am not a supporter of separating the values my religion teaches me and the policies I pursue.”

A historically high percentage of voters said they chose Mr. Bush in the November election over Mr. Kerry based on Mr. Bush’s moral values. Mr. Dean, Mrs. Clinton, and other top Democrats have since found occasion to weave scriptural references into public speeches.

Mr. Paterson said he and Mr. Hoyer discussed the possibility of redrawing new congressional and legislative boundaries in the state if Democrats take the Senate from Republicans. But both men said they had principled reasons for opposing that practice outside years in which the 10-year census is taken.

“That’s not something I’m settled on,” Mr. Paterson said. “I think some of the things that have been done with redistricting over the past few years are appalling. But my main issues right now are winning the majority.”

A spokesman for the Republican National Congressional Committee, Carl Forti, said Republicans do not view Mr. Hoyer’s trip to Albany as a threat to New York congressional seats. “Just talking about it doesn’t mean they’re going to change anything,” Mr. Forti said. “After suffering devastating losses for two straight elections, Democrats need to change something, because whatever they’re doing clearly isn’t going over well with voters.”