From obscurity to center stage, Nevada rises with senators’ political victories

WASHINGTON - Nevada, a state once regarded as the nation's "rotten borough," will begin a new era as its Democratic senator, Harry Reid, takes over as majority leader of the U.S. Senate.

"It's a coming of age for the state, politically," said Eric Herzik, a political science professor at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., takes it a little further: "It is so huge and so important for the state of Nevada, it's akin to the parting of the Dead Sea."

For the Silver State, often defined by vice not virtue, Reid's post could spell big things. Add in Sen. John Ensign's new role as National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman, the new January 2008 Democratic presidential caucus and the state's national clout gains a few notches.