By Michael Mishak

Published Friday, Feb. 15, 2008 | 4:05 p.m.

Updated Monday, Nov. 24, 2008 | 3:42 p.m.

The Nevada Republican establishment is now coalescing around Sen. John McCain.

Sen. John Ensign, state party chairwoman Sue Lowden and Nevada's two GOP national committee representatives, Joe Brown and Beverly Willard, have endorsed McCain in the Republican primary.

McCain's archrival, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, won the Jan. 19 Republican caucuses here but dropped out of the race last week. McCain finished in third place in Nevada, just behind Texas Congressman Ron Paul.

The following quote from Lowden stands out in the McCain campaign's press release: "I urge all Nevada Republicans to consider the numerous issues we share in common as a Party and move beyond our differences to focus on winning the general election in November."

Unstated are those differences. First and foremost is McCain's support for Yucca Mountain. We wrote about that and some of the others in a piece last year, before McCain abandoned a fledgling campaign here to bolster one in the critical state of New Hampshire.

For the record, Nevada Rep. Jon Porter had endorsed Rudy Giuliani before his exit from the race. Rep. Dean Heller told the Review-Journal's Washington Bureau this month, just before Romney's exit, that he preferred Romney over McCain.