Nevadans silent as Constitution read on House floor

By Karoun Demirjian

Thursday, Jan. 6, 2011 | 10:41 a.m.

WASHINGTON - They promised they’d do it, and on the second day of their tenure in the House, the GOP staged a not-so-dramatic reading of the Constitution of the United States.

Despite it being the government’s founding document, it’s the first time it’s been read out, every article, signature, and amendment, on the floor of the House of Representatives. But the event wasn’t just in homage to the founding fathers. It was also a sign of the new influence of the Tea Party, for whom adherence to the Constitution was -- as Nevadans will remember from Sharron Angle’s senatorial campaign -- a major rhetorical campaigning point during the 2010 midterms.

The reading was fairly bipartisan: 72 Republicans and 63 Democrats took to the bully pulpit for their moment. The reading was random, with a few exceptions, such as civil rights activist John Lewis of Georgia, who read the amendment about the abolition of slavery.

But from Nevadans? Nary a peep.

Despite the fact that Nevada’s a state where almost half of the electorate voted for Angle’s Constitution-driven campaign, not one of Nevada’s three House representatives took to the mics Thursday to give voice to a clause.

Is that weird? Sort of. Lawmakers from thirty-five states participated.