Greg Sargent has the scoop:
Good news: I'm told that Nancy Pelosi will be heading out to Las Vegas to speak at Netroots Nation next week.
Here's why this is important: Now that Harry Reid has also agreed to attend, for the first time, the leaders of both the House and Senate Dems will be making the pilgrimage together to the netroots gathering in the same year.
There's been a ton of chatter, much of it justified, that the Dem establishment in D.C. and the White House has largely taken the Dem base for granted since 2008. But the fact that Pelosi and Reid are attending Netroots Nation at the same time signals a recognition that the online Dem base will play a critical role in Dem efforts to hold the House and Senate.
Also: In another sign the Dem establishment is taking steps to demonstrate seriousness about the base, the executive directors of the DNC (Jennifer O'Malley Dillon), the DCCC (Jon Vogel) and the DSCC (J.B. Poersch) will also attend a Netroots Nation panel discussion.
Both Senator Reid and Speaker Pelosi will be participating in "Ask The Leader" sessions on Saturday -- each answering your questions via Twitter (Reid, Pelosi) and Facebook (Reid, Pelosi). And if you post your questions here, I think we'll notice. Our own Joan McCarter will moderate the session with Senator Reid, and Jack and Jill Politics' Cheryl Contee will moderate the Speaker Pelosi session.
In addition to Sen. Reid, Speaker Pelosi and Saturday night keynote speaker Sen. Al Franken, you'll hear from Elizabeth Warren, Gov. Brian Schweitzer, Ed Schultz, Sen. Jeff Merkley, Sen. Ben Cardin, Rep. Alan Grayson, Rep. Raul Grijalva, Rep. Jared Polis, Rep. Donna Edwards, Van Jones, Rich Trumka, Lizz Winstead, Majora Carter, Markos Moulitsas, Tarryl Clark, Bill Halter, George Goehl, Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, Deepak Bhargava, Gerald McEntee, Eliseo Medina and many more.
[The social calendar is starting to fill up as well, including Thursday's official Karaoke After-party sponsored by SEIU and Friday night activities including my annual Chairman's Quiz Hour (hosted by AFSCME), Bowling Night with the Alliance for American Manufacturing and a late-night poker tournament sponsored by the Poker Players Alliance. Saturday night, we turn things over to Markos for the blowout closing party -- details t/k.]
It is not too late to register for next week's conference. Join us in Las Vegas!