John Edwards will attend the Dem Presidential debate in Carson City, Nevada, on Feb. 21, Edwards senior adviser Jonathan Prince tells us. "It's a great opportunity to talk to working people about things John has been working on for a long time," Prince says, "like raising the minimum wage, organizing to protect workers' rights and earn a good living, and universal health care."

Six other Dem Presidential hopefuls -- Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, Tom Vilsack, Bill Richardson and Mike Gravel -- will also attend the event, which is sponsored by the AFL-CIO.

The Nevada event is significant for Dems for several reasons. The DNC recently moved Nevada's caucus to Jan. 19, in part because Dems see the west as a region where they can build on their gains in the 2006 elections. The debate's expected to stress western issues such as immigration, population growth and public land questions, as well as issues important to labor.

For these and other reasons, Nevada is a key state for Edwards, who's aggressively wooing labor unions and is staking out a place in the Dem field as committed to issues important to labor.

Meanwhile, Obama is taking a pass on the event, The Hotline reports.