Clinton's remarks elicited boos from the crowd of about 1,500 mostly liberal bloggers at the second annual YearlyKos convention, a group that included some of her toughest critics in the party.

The two-hour debate drew seven of the eight major Democratic presidential candidates. The payoff may be biggest for Clinton – despite the boos – because she had the longest way to go to win over a group that has been openly hostile to her.

The exchange on special-interest money was instigated by former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards. He called on the candidates to follow his policy of refusing to accept campaign contributions from lobbyists, suggesting that to do otherwise would make Democrats no better than Republicans.

“From this day forward, not a dime from Washington lobbyists,” Edwards said to a standing ovation.

Clinton ignored his challenge, but he brought it up a second time halfway through the debate. Again she was hesitant, but when prodded by moderator Matt Bai of The New York Times Magazine, Clinton said she would continue to accept the donations.

“A lot of these lobbyists, whether you like it or not, represent real Americans,” she said. “They represent nurses, they represent social workers and, yes, they represent corporations that employ a lot of people.”

Clinton said that never in her 35 years of public service has she bowed to the will of a lobbyist.

“I just ask you to look at my record,” she said.

One of her top rivals, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, seized on the moment and rejected her argument, saying Clinton should know better because special interest money helped sink her health care package in 1993. The crowd cheered wildly.

Edwards drove home the point even more by asking for a show of hands of audience members who have a lobbyist, as Clinton had suggested.

“You are not represented by lobbyists in Washington,” he said when only a scattering of hands was raised.

Although Edwards and Obama have not accepted money directly from federal lobbyists, they have benefited from the broader lobbying community. Both have taken money from firms with lobbying operations, and Obama in particular has tapped the networks of lobbyists' friends and co-workers. Obama, a former state senator from Illinois, also has accepted money from state lobbyists.

The boos and hisses at Clinton's lobbyist remarks – which prompted her to joke: “I've been waiting for this” – was the only negative response she received yesterday despite the rancor in the blogosphere.

Not so long ago, the New York senator was disparaged routinely in postings on the blogs most favored by the party's liberal activists. She was reviled for her vote in support of the Iraq war and her refusal to apologize for it when the war went badly. When this same group held its first convention last year in Las Vegas, she was a no-show.

The difference between then and now is a dramatic sign of how relentless and thorough Clinton's campaign has been at solidifying her position as the Democratic front-runner.

In steps little noticed outside the blogosphere, Clinton has:

Hired respected blogger Peter Daou as her director of Internet operations.

Announced her candidacy online.

Unveiled an endorsement by former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who was critical of the Bush administration's push to go to war in Iraq and is highly popular among liberal bloggers. Wilson's wife is outed CIA operative Valerie Plame.

Dispatched a top aide, Howard Wolfson, to take on Bill O'Reilly when the Fox News show host ripped into the YearlyKos conference and the influential DailyKos blog that inspired it.

Spoke out on voting rights, an issue closely watched by progressive bloggers.

The changes have won the respect of even her staunchest critics.

“Hillary's response defending DailyKos and the netroots against attacks by a Fox News partisan is a sign of growing respect,” said Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, founder of DailyKos, which receives 500,000 to 1 million hits per day.

“Her negatives in this community are fairly high,” he said yesterday. “In recent weeks, she has done a very good job of reducing those negatives. The more people see her, the more they realize that the scary picture painted about her isn't really that accurate. She's actually a very impressive person.”

The differences on issues – particularly Iraq – persist, and she is by no means loved in the blogosphere. But, Moulitsas said, “there is a sense that she will listen to us. And that's different from disdain or kind of shrugging us off as irrelevant.”

The biggest cheers yesterday went to Edwards and Obama.

Edwards received loud applause when he suggested his rivals were tinkering around the edges – “I just heard some discussion about negotiation, compromise” – rather than overhauling government. He said the nation needs “big change, not small change.”

Obama was cheered when he promised to wage a 50-state campaign.

Before the debate, Clinton appeared solo at a session of bloggers where she was received warmly – especially when she jokingly blamed a microphone malfunction on the “vast right-wing conspiracy.”

That reception underscored the progress she has made in neutralizing the blogosphere's disapproval of her.

Eight months ago, leading liberal blogger Matt Stoller blasted Clinton's statements on Iraq as “mushy, untrustworthy glop” and wrote that “there is almost no common ground between progressive activists and elitists like Hillary Clinton.” Today, Stoller still opposes her, noting in an interview, “I do not .... share her values.” But he added: “She deserves respect. Though I don't really trust her, there are definitely areas of alignment.”

No one expects Clinton to overtake either Edwards or Obama here.

“Obama, in a way, is a product of the netroots,” said Moulitsas, recalling the help bloggers gave Obama in his Senate primary win in 2004. “He is pretty much a product of this world.”

Moulitsas said Obama fits the essential dynamic of the blogosphere. It is not, he said, liberal as much as it is in search of anti-establishment outsiders.

“Obama is clearly an outsider (and a) fresh face” who most liberal bloggers find “pretty exciting,” Moulitsas said, while Clinton is seen as part of the establishment.

The presence here of all but one of the major Democratic contenders indicates candidates' awareness of the increased power of the netroots activists. Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware was the only candidate who did not take part in the debate.

“Last year we were sort of a curiosity,” Moulitsas said. “This year we've actually delivered results, and people are treating us with a lot more seriousness and respect.”