Although the 2007 YearlyKos is only the second annual conference of the far-left blogger organization, their ability to command top-level politicans and acquire generous sponsorship rivals the best of long-standing national conservative and GOP conferences.

The biggest names in the Democratic Party seem to recognize the grassroots political power behind DailyKos. Every Democrat running for their party’s nomination for President, save one, made time in their schedules to appear in a 2-hour long YearlyKos presidential forum and hold individual breakout sessions where conference participants could ask questions. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.), Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.), Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and Democratic Congressional Committee Chairman Rep. Rahm Emanuel (N.Y) planned to attend, but congressional work that ran late Friday evening prevented them from making their scheduled appearances early Saturday morning.

Aside from drawing these political heavy-hitters, YearlyKos was also sponsored by powerful special interests like the National Education Association, the Service Employees International Union, the International Union of Teamsters and MoveOn.Org, as well as partisan fundraising groups like DSCC and DCCC.

These sponsors helped YearlyKos secure McCormick Place Conference Center, one of the nation’s largest convention centers located off the Lake Michigan coast in downtown Chicago.

Saturday evening, the Teamsters held a complimentary barbeque cookout for conference participants.

Check out today’s episode of “The Five,” where Amanda Carpenter covers what leading Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said at the YearlyKos conference and stay tuned for more first-hand reporting on the conference this week.