Harry Reid was rarely accused of being charismatic in his public life. But he told people what he thought. He called George W. Bush a “loser,” Clarence Thomas an “embarrassment,” and Alan Greenspan a “hack.” He was first elected to represent Nevada in the Senate in 1986, and he became the top Democrat in the chamber eighteen years later, at a harrowing moment for his party. In 2004, Democrats not only failed to prevent Bush’s reëlection but lost seats in the House and in the Senate. “I earned capital in this campaign, political capital,” Bush said at the time. “And now I intend to spend it.” Reid helped beat back Bush’s attempts to privatize Social Security, and then led Senate Democrats through the election of Barack Obama and the passage of the most consequential series of liberal laws enacted in half a century: the Affordable Care Act, the economic stimulus, the Dodd-Frank financial-reform bill, the auto bailout. He opted not to seek reëlection in 2016, after suffering a freak gym accident, and left Washington just as Donald Trump arrived. In 2018, he was given a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.

Reid grew up in the boom-and-bust town of Searchlight, Nevada, well after the bust occurred. His father was a miner, and his family’s home was built out of creosote-soaked railroad ties. “We had a little tree in our yard for a while,” Reid wrote in his memoir, from 2008. “It died.” In 1977, he was appointed head of the Nevada Gaming Commission, a job that no one wanted. As the story goes, he spent the next four years tangling with Mafia wise guys. During an F.B.I. sting that he helped arrange, in 1978, he famously yelled at a businessman, “You son of a bitch, you tried to bribe me!” Then he tried to choke the man.

The Nevada caucuses, on Saturday, will be the third contest of the 2020 Presidential nomination race. On Wednesday, I joined a parade of journalists who came in for an audience with Reid, in the office he keeps in the well-appointed bowels of the Bellagio hotel and casino, in Las Vegas. Seated behind his desk, he wore a black fedora and a pin-striped suit. If the outfit was a wink at the mobsters he helped push out of Vegas, he didn’t say. When I extended my hand in greeting, he offered a clenched fist. We fist bumped. During an hour-long conversation, which has been edited and condensed, we spoke about the election, the Democratic Party, the Senate, impeachment, and U.F.O.s. Reid is eighty and uses a wheelchair, but he still answers questions nimbly, in his gravelly, deadpan voice. “I don’t know what my notoriety was, but I had a good time working my caucus,” he said, of his time in the Senate. “I think we got a lot of things done.”

There are two ways that Democrats seem to talk about Donald Trump. One way is as a historically weak opponent, whose behavior turns off large numbers of voters, whose party is coming off big losses in a midterm election. The other way is as a very strong incumbent, overseeing a growing economy, raising huge sums of money, and willing to do anything to stay in power. Which of those views do you subscribe to?

I think it’s a mixture. I believe that Trump is not doomed to lose. I think that he could win. I hope he doesn’t. I don’t think he will. But we cannot take it for granted. And that’s why you have to have a campaign that’s based upon more than just how bad Trump is. It has to be a campaign that relates to what people care about. Young people care about climate. Everybody cares about health care, which has been so damaged by the Republicans whacking Obamacare every chance they get. So we have to talk about issues that are important to people in America, not how bad Trump is.

You filled out your early-voting caucus card uncommitted. Why?

Since we got an early caucus out here, I have never taken a position in a primary. Never. Not when Obama was there—my dear friend. Not when Hillary was there. I’ve never gotten involved. I don’t intend to.

You’re responsible for Nevada going third in our current primary system—

Should be first, but here’s where we are.

Well, I’m wondering if you think the current system is working. Is this the best way for the Democrats to pick a nominee?

I think that the present system is not good—with the debacle we had an Iowa. And the vote we had in New Hampshire. Those are not the two places we should start. Because those two states do not represent America. They’re states that are white. We should have the early vote be a state like Nevada that is diverse, that is a state where organized labor is strong, a state where we have other things that other people can relate to. For example, tourism. We are the No. 1 place in the country for tourism. But in every state in the union, one of the top economic drivers is tourism. So Nevada is a really good place to start.

Does the fact that Iowa and New Hampshire are so white explain why the Democrats are now down to an all-white group of candidates?

Well, I don’t think you can blame it on Kamala Harris being dumb or having a terrible campaign. Same with Cory Booker. His mom lives in Nevada, his dad died here. I think that those two states just really make it difficult for a person of color to get traction. They could here.

Does the prospect of a drawn out race in the primary trouble you?

No. I think competition is good, whether it’s in a soccer match or in a campaign. I think it’s important that we have some competition.

You’ve criticized Medicare for All and the Green New Deal as unpassable. But you’ve also criticized Congress for being dysfunctional. Why should Democrats be limited in what they propose based on what could work in a dysfunctional environment?

Because I think we have a situation where Democrats could take control of the Senate. I think that’s not a stretch. I think we’re gonna win in Colorado, win in Arizona, we’re gonna win New Hampshire. I think we have a real shot in North Carolina. I think that Doug Jones is going to surprise people in Alabama. So I think we can retake the Senate. And in spite of what the Republicans have done to it, with a little bit of good luck, we can take away some of the damage they’ve done.

But with Medicare for All, specifically, if passage were assured, would you think it was a good idea?

Medicare for All—take, for example, here in Nevada. The very large, powerful, sixty-thousand-member Culinary Union came out saying not only no, but hell no. They don’t like it. Medicare for All takes away a lot of insurance plans that people bargained for and have had for a long, long time. Medicare for All—I’ve spoken out against it in the past, I’m speaking on it again. I’m not going to live in some hypothetical world where we have no problems getting things passed. It’s a lousy way to approach health care.