I encourage everybody to go read the main article as I'm just giving off a part of it....
Pelosi reaches out to blogging communityBy ERICA WERNER, Associated Press Writer Mon Jan 29, 5:55 PM ET
"They've gone from an initial writing blogs off, then moving to skepticism, then moving to, 'OK, maybe we can find a way of working with these guys,'" said John Aravosis, who runs Americablog.com.
"It's a power base and it's influential and it's an opportunity. And you know what? It exists," Aravosis added.
"It should only scare you if you're on their bad side."
Blogs also are a way for Pelosi and others to communicate directly with a politically engaged audience, without filtering by traditional media. She promoted the Democrats' agenda for their first 100 legislative hours in a posting on Huffingtonpost.com.
Democrats, in turn, credit bloggers with helping marshal successful opposition to President Bush's 2005 plan to overhaul
Social Security by adding private accounts, a fight Pelosi led.
"It's a mistake to think that these people just sit behind their machines and don't do anything other than talk to each other and send money," said Joe Trippi, who managed Howard Dean's Internet-driven campaign. "These people are very active in their precincts, in their communities."
Friendly bloggers can help defuse attacks. Liberal bloggers rose to Pelosi's defense when she was criticized after the November election for employing nonunion workers at her vineyard. Thinkprogress.org trumpeted Pelosi's side of the story: Growers are prohibited by law from meddling in union contract issues before workers vote to organize.
Republicans are stepping up their involvement with blogs as well, and Pelosi's aides are planning new media training sessions for Democratic lawmakers and aides partly to expand use of blogs - one more sign that Congress' presence in the blogosphere will only grow.
That was really the middle section.