WASHINGTON _ One day to go before the Big Night. All eyes in the political universe are turning to Las Vegas for the Democratic debates. And what is the Nevada story today in Washington? Gambling.

The House Judiciary Committee convened a hearing this morning on the rising popularity of Internet gambling. Chairman John Conyers opened the session by welcoming “the dazzling diva of Las Vegas” Rep. Shelley Berkley to the witness table.

None other than Annie Duke, one of the world’s top poker players, would testify.

For all of Nevada’s efforts to show the rest of the nation it’s just a normal state with soccer moms and NASCAR dads, somehow gambling always seems to steal the limelight.

Berkley and the other members of Nevada’s House delegation have sponsored a bill to study the feasibility of regulating online gaming. Nevada’s casinos might one day like to get in on the Internet action, and banning online games would end that lucrative option.

But the ills of online gaming cannot be ignored, testified Rep. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, the Republican congressman who shocked online gamers last fall when his bill to outlaw their pastime launched a new law.

Berkley persevered. She gave the committee a little glimpse of Las Vegas life - how anytime you want to go to a movie, go bowling or go to Sunday brunch you enter a casino. She has lived around gambling her entire life, she testified, and turned out just fine, thank you very much. “There are far more people addicted to shopping online than gambling online,” she said.

Sparks would fly all morning. And surely gambling headlines would find their way into debate day news.