[Cross-posted at Swing State Project.]
This week, we're opening up the MyDD/DailyKos/Swing State Project Netroots Candidates list for what will probably be this year's final round of nominations. You can find a complete run-down on both the selection process and the candidate criteria we use in this earlier post.
If you aren't yet familiar with the Netroots ActBlue page, I'd summarize it like this: It's a list of strong - but not quite top-tier - candidates who either already have broad support in the netroots or who ought to have such support. Our goal, in other words, is to identify campaigns where our ability to impact the race will be greatest. We don't want to pile on after the big boys - we want to get the ball rolling so that the big boys will come in and pile on after us.
We'll be announcing the new selections (probably two to three names) next week. That announcement will also kick off a mid-summer fundraising push for the entire roster of candidates. Conventional wisdom says that summertime is one of the worst times of year to raise money. We want to see if we can push back a bit against that CW and rake in some bucks when most other people probably aren't even trying.
It's also important to note that candidates in several states with late primaries have to file "pre-primary" reports with the FEC soon: FL on 8/16; AZ, DE, MD, MN, NH, NY, RI, VT & WI on 8/23; MA & WA on 8/30; and HI on 9/3. So if you want to see your favorite federal candidates put out a good fundraising report, now is the time to give - especially for Florida campaigns, which close the books in just two days.
One final note: As always, we want to stress that the Netroots page is just one ActBlue page created by three like-minded blogs. The beauty of the Internets is that you can start your own blog, your own ActBlue page, or both, in under five minutes, all for free. If our selection process or actual picks don't suit you, or even if you just feel like starting your own fundraising page, we wholeheartedly encourage you to do so. In fact, ActBlue is offering a special promotion this month:
[W]e'll be sending copies of An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore's phenomenal new book (and companion to his phenomenal movie) to everyone who raises a total of $600 from at least 6 donors by September 6th!
So, without further ado, please fire away in the comments with your nominations. And if you can offer some reasons why you think your favorite candidate(s) should be included, that's even better.