Senate leader's ticklish test in Nevada (Sen. Harry Reid)

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON - When a legal battle pitting Hillary Rodham Clinton's supporters against Barack Obama's erupted in Nevada this week, Sen. Harry Reid, the most powerful Democrat in the state, took heat for declining to play referee.


It was Reid who put his influence and reputation on the line to get Nevada's caucus a prominent slot on the primary calendar, but as Senate leader — charged with herding a narrow majority that includes the party's two top presidential contenders — he says he's determined to stay neutral until Democrats pick their nominee.

His state's caucus Saturday is just the start of the tough balancing act Reid faces this year as leader of a Senate whose work will be shaped by the race for the White House.

While neither Clinton nor Obama is expected to use the Senate as campaign central for their presidential bids, dealing with their outsized personalities and increasingly competitive agendas promises to complicate Reid's job of seeking a Democratic consensus on jump-starting the economy and the war in Iraq.

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