LAS VEGAS — Forget the jokes about caucusing in brothels, or trawling for votes amid the slot machines and blackjack tables along the neon-drenched Strip.
When Democratic presidential hopefuls come calling on Nevada, the real challenge will be the party faithful they find in this independent-minded state, which will host the West's first nominating contest in a little over a year.
Democrats here like guns, loathe taxes and see nature as a source of fun and profit, not a place that some Washington bureaucrat should lock away. And skip the Rust Belt rhetoric about all those manufacturing jobs fleeing to China and Mexico. Economic issues require a different approach in a state that has boomed for the last 40 years.
"If you give the same speech on the economy in Nevada that you give in Iowa, you're going to seem out of touch," said Eric Herzik, who teaches political science at the University of Nevada in Reno.
"A lack of knowledge," he added, "can offend quicker than anything."
Nevada represents the leading edge in a political shift, as the Rocky Mountain West becomes the new battleground in presidential politics. Democrats, hoping to bring a fresh voice to their nominating process and give candidates a head start on the fall campaign, have set Nevada's caucuses for Jan. 19, 2008.
It is the first time any Western state has had so much influence so early: Nevada will go second, after the Iowa caucuses begin the presidential balloting a few days earlier. And if the state's leading Democrats have their way, what happens in Vegas won't stay in Vegas.
"This is seen as a very, very unique opportunity to get the presidential candidates on the record on Western issues and put them in the national arena early," said Billy Vassiliadis, one of Nevada's political power brokers and the impresario behind Las Vegas' sly marketing slogan. "Instead of talking about manufacturing jobs and farm subsidies, we'll be discussing public lands, infrastructure needs, ranching, mining and water, water, water."
On Saturday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and national labor leaders announced plans for five candidate forums in Nevada, starting next month in Carson City.
For some Democrats, campaigning here may require them to learn a new way of talking -- starting with the pronunciation of the state. It's Ne-VAD-uh, not Ne-VAH-duh, which may seem like a small thing unless you live here.
