Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean, left, applauds the Rev. Jesse Jackson after Jackson addressed members of the DNC during their summer meeting Saturday in Chicago. The DNC added Nevada and South Carolina to the early presidential voting states. Photos by The Associated Press, Lois DeBerry, left, speaker pro-tem of the Tennessee House, talks with Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean during the DNC summer meeting Saturday in Chicago. The DNC added Nevada and South Carolina to the early presidential voting states. The change is designed to address a nagging problem for Democrats: How to give a greater voice in selecting a presidential nominee to minorities who are among the party's most loyal supporters.

Nevada politicos celebrated Saturday as their state became an important stop on the presidential campaign trail.

"Our world is about to change," said Nevada's Democratic candidate for governor, Dina Titus, shortly after Democrats meeting in Chicago approved a 2008 presidential nomination schedule that puts the state in the No. 2 spot on the calendar and guarantees its voters a front seat for the prescreening of presidential wannabes.

"They're already starting to call me," Titus, a state senator, said, adding that she got special attention from national leaders at the weekend Democratic National Committee meeting. "They introduced me around as the great victor of the primary. I think this will help in the governor's race. It will help me to get them raising money and get them fired up about this election."

The committee agreed to sandwich a Jan. 19 Nevada caucus between the Jan. 14 Iowa caucus and a Jan. 22 New Hampshire primary. It also added a Jan. 29 primary in South Carolina. The shake-up was backed by Democratic leaders who want to add more Hispanic and black voters to the voter pool picking the party nominee.

Supporters of the new plan also hope the switch will give Democrats an early foothold in the West, a region increasingly seen as a key to winning the general election.

The shift also will create a group of Nevada powerbrokers whose endorsements will be courted with campaign contributions and face time.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid is expected to be chief among them, though Reid spokesman Jon Summers said the Nevada senator has promised not to play early favorites.

"Every candidate that comes to Nevada will come to the state on equal footing," Summers said.

Another winner from Saturday's decision was the state's Hispanic community, which makes up about 23 percent of the population. One in seven voters in Clark County, home to two-thirds of the state's registered voters, is Hispanic, according to county estimates.

"Hispanics will play a major role in deciding who wins this caucus," said Andres Ramirez, a Las Vegas political consultant and community organizer.

Ramirez predicted the switch would force candidates to take stronger positions on energy, water, economic development, education and -- if Congress doesn't act on proposed reforms soon -- immigration.

But presidential hopefuls also will have to brush up on some Nevada issues.

"When we were in the spotlight in 2004 they got away with mostly (talking about) Yucca Mountain, and didn't go much beyond that," said Dennis Myers, news editor at the weekly Reno News and Review and a longtime political reporter.

In 2008, candidates will have to become well-versed in rural Nevada's political dialogue -- which has nothing to do with ethanol, he said.

"The rural here is a different rural than in Iowa or New Hampshire. It's not agriculture, it's mining," Myers said. "The mining law of 1872 is an article of faith out there."

State Sen. Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, agreed the decision would force politicians to focus on issues confronting Nevada and the West.

"It's really great for Nevada and for Democrats across the country," he said by phone from Chicago.

Nevada's political class has been sensitive to outsiders who've scoffed at the notion of caucusing in casinos, and shuddered at the thought of blackjack dealers and strippers picking the next nominee.

"We also have nurses and firefighters and casino workers, and they deserve to select the next president of the United States as much as anybody else does," said Horsford, who helped lobby for the change.

Nevada's balanced voter registration numbers and ethnic and cultural diversity meshed well with the diversity the Democratic National Committee is seeking for the nomination process, Horsford said.

Myers notes the state parties have long held caucuses, officially called "precinct meetings." The meetings have been held in saloons, but also in high schools. They've garnered the most attendees when hot issues, such as the Vietnam War, dominated the discussion. The presidential caucuses brought out about 9,000 Democrats in February 2004.

But this shouldn't be confused with a "caucus tradition" on par with Iowa, experts said.

"Nothing is culturally ingrained in Nevada. The population growth is so rapid and the turnover so great that at any given time there are more new residents here than in any other state," Myers said.

What the state lacks in institutional knowledge and party organization it makes up for in strong unions and the Reid network.

Reid and the Culinary Union, representing 60,000 cooks, maids, waitresses and bellmen at casino resorts on the Las Vegas Strip, led the fight for the early contest.

Both saw their political stock rise with Saturday's voice vote.

"This will be an enormous undertaking, but our state party is up to the challenge that comes along with this incredible opportunity," Reid said in a statement. "We will make Democrats proud as the national political spotlight prepares to shine on our state. I look forward to welcoming all presidential candidates to Nevada."

Review-Journal writer Lawrence Mower contributed to this report.