WASHINGTON — Harry Reid is dour, unpolished, a walking contradiction with an "Eeyore exterior." Or he is "shrewd and very effective," with a "spine of steel," a brawling political insider who started life as a rural Nevada outsider.

Those are among the descriptions of Reid as reported by the media in the two months since the Nevada Democrat was elected majority leader of the U.S. Senate, a post he ascended to Thursday as the 110th Congress convened in Washington.

Reid was a stranger to most Americans before November, despite serving for two years as leader of the Senate's minority party. Post-election polls found that two-thirds of Americans had never heard of him.

But once his party seized control of Congress, Reid's power and profile grew exponentially. He now controls the operation of the Senate and, as the nation's highest elected legislator, he is leader of the loyal opposition to the Republican-controlled executive branch.

Accordingly, the nation's major newspapers and broadcast outlets have busied themselves describing Reid, generally starting with a dose of disillusionment. The press seems a little disappointed that Reid is not a glittery Vegas guy, University of California political science professor Barbara Sinclair said.

The stories on Reid have followed a familiar narrative: The miner's son from Searchlight, Nev., who hitchhiked his way to high school and whose hardscrabble childhood helped shape his personal and political beliefs.

There have been plenty of boxer analogies: "An infighter with a sharp jab," a New York Times headline said.

The Washington Post described Reid's reputation as a "brawler who moves with the alacrity he acquired in his days as an amateur boxer."

Time magazine reported his "Eeyore exterior" and nabbed this quintessential quote when Reid was asked whether Democrats were going to win the Senate on election night, as Republican seats were falling one by one: "Oh, no, no, no. You have to understand, I'm not a guy that is ever very optimistic."

There have been musings about the curious head-scratchers inherent in Reid: a Mormon representing Sin City. A Democrat who is against abortion.

And the controversies that dogged Reid before the election have followed him since — from a Nevada land deal that, once reported by the Associated Press, led him to amend his financial disclosure forms, to his acceptance of free ringside seats to Las Vegas boxing events.

Washington Post columnist David Broder questioned whether Reid could handle his new role, given his "less than commanding" public presence and his sharp partisan comments — he called President Bush "a liar" over Yucca Mountain and "a loser" for his policies in general.