The front-running candidates all are staying away from Nashville, Tenn., which this weekend is hosting the annual gathering of the Democratic Leadership Council, the business-friendly group of centrist Democrats that played a key role in guiding the party from Walter Mondale's defeat in the 1984 presidential election to Bill Clinton's victories in 1992 and 1996.

But all the candidates will be in Chicago next weekend for the second annual convention of Democratic-leaning Internet bloggers, a relatively new part of campaign infrastructure that wasn't even imagined when Mondale and Clinton were campaigning for votes. The occasion is “YearlyKos,” the brainchild of Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, the 35-year-old founder of Daily Kos, one of the most influential progressive blogs and one that has gained a bigger role in the fight for the Democratic nomination.

Al From, founder and head of the DLC, says the candidates' travel plans don't mean his group has lost its influence.

“I don't think this tells you an awful lot,” From said, adding that it's more important that the eventual nominee attend next year's DLC meeting, just as Democratic nominees did in each of the last four elections.

“Always the most uncomfortable year for us is the third year in the cycle, when people are looking at the early primaries and caucuses,” he said. Candidates now “are focused on winning interest-group votes. . . . We were organized and always have been the force in the party that looks to the general election and tries to connect the Democratic Party to the mainstream values of the country.”

But there's no question that the passion in the party will be on display in Chicago much more than in Nashville.

“Today, the energy is coming from new voices, new media, new technology and is much more to the left of the DLC,” said former California Democratic Chairman Bill Press, now a radio talk-show host. “Look where the candidates are going. You don't need any further proof than that.”

Press said many in the party are grateful to the DLC for “bringing the Democratic Party back from having tilted too far to the left to a position where it could win elections again.” But, he added, “I think its (the DLC's) time has come and gone.”

He said the candidates are wise to trek to Chicago to woo the bloggers. “Their influence is awesome,” he said. “It's really far beyond their numbers.”

In part, that's because the bloggers reflect the belief shared by most activists that now isn't the time for “a middle-of-the-road message.”

David Sirota, founder of the Progressive States Network and a longtime foe of the DLC, said the group has become “radioactive” to candidates running in Democratic primaries because it only represents “Washington elites and corporate lobbyists.”

He added, “Now that there is a reinvigorated counter to that – whether through the Netroots or the unions or environmental groups – it has lost its ability to dominate the space it exists in.”

The DLC, which calls its annual meeting a “conversation,” won't be talking just to itself in Nashville, though. Former President Clinton will attend, as will several governors, members of Congress and, From said, about 350 elected officials from 45 states.

From acknowledged that there will be more passion in Chicago.

“I'm not going to tell you that there isn't a lot of energy on the left side of the party, and that in the nominating process a lot of pressure isn't to get the candidates to move in that direction,” he said.

“But the challenge for the Democratic Party isn't to nominate a candidate. We do that every time. We've been pretty good at nominating candidates – even those who have lost 49 states. Our challenge is to win the general election (and) to govern the country effectively.”

Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said the travel decisions by the candidates are “absolute proof that to be nominated as a Democrat, you must cultivate the left. To be identified as a centrist is a minus in the nominating process.”

Jenny Backus, a veteran of many Democratic campaigns, said the attendance at the YearlyKos convention is a tribute to Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean, who blazed an Internet trail four years ago as an unsuccessful candidate for the presidential nomination.

She said it makes sense for the candidates because the bloggers can help them raise money on the Internet, help provide activists to organize the important early states and, finally, give the candidates a chance “to tap into the angry, motivated, fired-up base of the party.”

In contrast, Backus said, the DLC “only gets you points in the ideas primary” of policy development. The DLC is of little help in fundraising or organizing, she said, adding, “It is more of a symbol of what kind of Democrat you are.”

Backus predicted the eventual nominee will attend next year's gathering “as part of a dance back to the middle.”