Nevada

The Senate race in Nevada has gained especial attention - as the Majority Leader's seat is at risk. Harry Reid has represented the State since 1986. Republicans would love to unseat the leader of the Democrats in the Senate, as they did in 2004 with Tom Daschle - the first time a Senate majority leader had lost a seat since 1952.

Reid had sat in the House of Representatives for two terms prior to his election to the Senate. His autobiography is called "The Good Fight" - subtitled "Hard lessons from Searchlight to Washington". Searchlight is the mining town he grew up in. He was an amateur middleweight boxer - but politics became his passion. In the Senate he was elected as the Whip and took over the leadership of the Senate Democrats after Daschle's defeat. His official campaign site is http://reid.senate.gov/

Opposing him is Sharron Angle, a former Republican member of the Nevada Assembly. She is associated with the "Tea Party" movement. Her website is http://sharronangle.com/

The third district of Nevada also has a race to watch. Dina Titus is defending the seat she won from the Republicans in 2008. The Cook Political Report described this as "a Democratic toss up", as does Larry Sabato.

The State of Nevada has only three districts - Shelley Berkley (Dem) represents urban Las Vegas; while the Republicans hold the Junior Senator's seat (John Ensign) and the 2nd District (Dean Heller)

Harry Reid

When I was in the United States I took the opportunity to boost my library of autobiographies & biographies of current members of Congress. This week - after completing Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States" - I began a programme of reading some of these works. This include books by or about John Lewis; Mitch McConnell; Barney Frank and Jim Webb. I have started with Harry Reid's "The Good Fight". Senator Reid represents the State he was born in (Nevada). In the book he describes growing up in Searchlight, a mining town. There are many insights into why he cares deeply about the healthcare issue.

I'm particularly interested in what legislators, especially whips, have to say about their work. In explaining why reform can take such a long time, Senator Reid says "Legislating is a process, a flurry of deals. What's impossible today is possible tomorrow, and sometimes you have to grind it out." Frustrating the the public - but a key truth about the involved process of negotiation which is central to the work of legislatures.

Senator Reid's website can be accessed here.