When we started the Progressive Patriots Fund in 2005, our goal was to promote a progressive reform agenda and support candidates across the country.  To date, we’ve contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars directly to Democratic candidates everywhere, we’ve come a long way on advancing the issues on which we all care for deeply, and in 2006, we hired and trained 20 grassroots activists we call the Patriot Corps, and sent them to work on campaigns across the country.  These paid field staffers were part of the movement that helped Democrats retake the House and Senate in 2006 and as many of you already know – from our emails and ads here and elsewhere online – we’re once again looking to make the Patriot Corps an important part of our effort to build on the Progressive movement sweeping through our nation.    

You can find more information about the 2008 Patriot Corps, and view a video message from me below the fold.

I am now approaching the end of my first NN and have had the privilege to see a number of the brighter lights in the Democratic firmament.  While we didn't have a current presidential candidate - unless you count Bob Barr - We had Al Gore, Wes Clark, Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi, Gavin Newsom and no doubt others I'm forgetting.  These are all very big names.  Some we love, others we have a more complicated relationship with.  But each of them has undeniably played a very important role.  And yet one sweet-faced and unassuming woman who has yet to hold elective office was loved and cheered like no one else

After I get off work today, I'm going to go home and pack for Netroots Nation.  One of the items I'll be bringing with me is the custom button that Darcy Burner, our netroots favorite Congressional Candidate in Washington's 8th District, made for me at a fundraiser I helped put together for her in Los Angeles.

Despite the tragedy that befell Darcy's family on July 1st in which a fire rendered their beautiful home a total loss, Darcy will be taking the time to attend Netroots Nation as well.

Not only will she be attending, she'll be one of the celebrity bartenders (Facebook login required) at the Young Voter PAC afterparty Saturday night in Austin!  Imagine that--she loves the netroots so much she's willing to serve us all a beer.  That's family.

Regardless, though--in the aftermath of the fire that destroyed Darcy's home, we in the netroots stepped up to the fundraising plate.  We set a target, but we're still a few thousand short.

More below the fold.

Given what happened yesterday, I feel it's important I repost my earlier diary on who are the GOOD Democratic challengers when it comes to FISA.  I'll try to corral all their statements into this diary, so you can see who the "good guys" are.

First, let's start off with the current House and Senate members who voted against this bill.  (For the Senate, I'm only including those who voted against cloture yesterday for the bill.)  They do deserve credit, as it's their jobs on the line.

Follow me below the fold to see the dozens of Democratic challengers who are standing up for the Constitution, and are against this FISA bill and retroactive immunity.

There's incredible potential for 2008, and it starts right here, on our Orange to Blue list. Not only is it a group committed to solidly progressive values, but they're already a team.

You need no more proof of that than the fact that as soon as our candidate in Wyoming, Gary Trauner, heard about the fire that destroyed Darcy Burner's home, he donated to her campaign. He wanted to join our effort to give her time away from dialing for dollars in order to take care of her family and recover from the fire.

Last week Markos set a $400,000 goal to give Darcy the breathing room she needs. The community responded like crazy, and we're only about $32,000 from that goal. That means that the netroots raised nearly $120,000. Because Darcy is family.

She's family to Gary, too. As he said in his e-mail to me, "we definitely need to take care of our own... Hopefully, my contribution can help inspire others (including candidates) to step up as well..."

It's a great concept, a team. Imagine what that team will be able to do when they get to Congress.

(Ellen M. Banner / The Seattle Times)

Update by kos: Here's another nice story. We can "tag" links to the ActBlue page, so we can track the success of various campaigns. This campaign is tagged "refcode=burnerfire".

Well, when we first started the campaign, I opened up my email and had two seemingly panicked emails from Orange to Blue candidate Eric Massa. I'm talking emails with ALL-CAPS in the subject line, urging me to call him ASAP. A bit worried (I don't generally get these kinds of emails), I rang up Massa and asked him what was up.

"I think something is wrong with ActBlue," he explained, worried. "I think donations that were supposed to go to Darcy Burner are ending up in my account."

What Massa's finance person had seen was that "refcode=burnerfire" tag show up on a couple of contributions to his boss, not realizing that people had given to Burner first, and then added a few bucks to a few more candidates. Massa could've kept his mouth shut. Like all candidates, he desperately needs the cash. But thinking something was wrong, his first instinct was to call me and try to fix the "problem" of him getting money.

These candidates look out for each other, whether it's Burner or Trauner or Massa or any of the others. We've got a great class of candidates this cycle, who will do us proud for many years.

Race tracker wiki: WA-08 WY-AL

We set out yesterday to raise $150,000 for Darcy Burner, taking pressure off her fundraising efforts so she and her family can rebuild their lives. In 24 hours, the netroots have moved past the halfway mark, with $85,000 raised (we started at the $250,000 mark). That's 17 days she can focus on rebuilding rather than fundraising. As Goldy says:

This is more than just money, it is a gift of time and an outpouring of affection that has buoyed Darcy’s spirits just as the full impact of her loss finally started to sink in. The campaign tells me she has canceled her schedule at least through the end of the week and will reevaluate day by day after that.

I'm glad she has cancelled her schedule for at least this week. Let's help give her more time to put the pieces back together.

Race tracker wiki: WA-08

Having worked on several campaigns through the years I know the toll that it puts on the candidate and their families. I can only imagine what it is like to have lost a house to a fire during a campaign. The sentimental value and the memories alone along with having to start over in an unfamiliar setting can be unsettling. But to do this at a time when you are already putting your life and family on the line and stay positive is remarkable. Today is my second wedding anniversary and second year in my new house and to put that in perspective has really gotten me in a mood where I feel I must do something.

Everyone is making pleas for money for Darcy and I do ask that you give. I've come out for so many races this cycle, but I dug deep and found a little more. I am going to set a goal of $1,000 on my page and if we reach that then I am in for another $150. If we hit $2,000 I will do $200. Click on the thermometer to donate (It's easy and secure)

Seattle Times:

Looking into the black, collapsed interior of her home along the shore of Ames Lake on Tuesday, congressional candidate Darcy Burner was matter-of-fact.

"I'd say it's pretty much a total loss, based on the smoldering remains," she said. "We lost stuff. It's just stuff. The boy is fine. The husband is fine."

Burner, her husband and their 5-year-old son were home asleep when the 7 a.m. fire broke out, but they escaped unharmed [...]

Fire investigators said the blaze was caused by a malfunctioning electrical device that was plugged into an outlet in a bedroom, said Sgt. John Urquhart of the King County Sheriff's Office. Burner said a faulty lamp in her son's room apparently was to blame.

Burner said she and her husband, Mike, were awakened Tuesday morning by their son.

"Henry came into our room screaming there was a fire," she said. "I scooped him up and got him out of the house. The fire started in his room. He did everything right."

"Thank goodness for smoke detectors," said Glaser. Investigators believe Henry was awakened when smoke alarms sounded, Glaser said.

I just went and re-checked the smoke detectors in my kids'' room. The thought of a fire starting in their room makes me want to throw up.

Darcy needs time to put her life back together. We're doing our part to make that possible, looking to cover her fundraising goal for the month ourselves.

I'm in for $1,000.

Update:

Update II: HelpDarcy.com

Race tracker wiki: WA-08

I can consider myself one of the luckier members of our netroots "order": lucky, in that I've gotten to spend an entire day staffing Darcy Burner.

I didn't write about that day then owing to constraints on my own personal time, but in the context of the events of the past couple of days, I thought I'd share with you what I remember--and some photos.

I think the best thing I can say about Darcy is that even if she weren't my favorite Congressional Candidate, she'd still be an awesome friend.

More below the fold--as well as the obligatory fundraising ask.

I can assure you that the diary I was going to post today was a treasure of erudition, snark and insight, and would have redirected the political discourse in this nation to a higher plane. But screw that – I’ll post it tonight. This is more important:

DARCY BURNER NEEDS OUR HELP.

DONATE HERE

Guys, as you might've seen, Orange to Blue candidate Darcy Burner lost her house yesterday to a fire. The tragedy has obviously upended her life, and she's struggling right now to put all the pieces back together. As such, she now faces a dilemma -- the more time she dedicates to dealing with her personal affairs, the less time she has to campaign and raise money.

We can't help with the "campaign" side of things, but we can help with the money side of things. Darcy would have to raise about $150,000 in the month of July to keep up with her Republican opponent. Us bloggers are going to try and raise that for her.

Darcy is currently at $250,000 across all of ActBlue. We want to get that to $400,000. A tall order, but no one deserves the respite from the rigors of fundraising more than Darcy.

One last point: Darcy is a huge netroots sensation because she is truly one of us -- a former Microsoft exec who is a geek at heart, and someone who has been with us on the war and FISA since she first started running in 2005. Some politicians can put up a facade or say the right things for the right audience, but there's no faking it when you've just run out of your burning house, seeing all your worldly possessions go up in flames as you frantically try to ensure your family is safe.

Look at the shirt she was wearing:

(Ellen M. Banner / The Seattle Times)

She is family.

I know I promised a lull from the fundraising after the end of the quarter, but these are not normal circumstances. Darcy will be someone who will be there for us when she's in Congress. Now's our chance to be there for her during these horrible, trying times. Let's do what we can to help her out.

Update: Goldy:

[...] that’s XML for “end war.” And the fact that this was the shirt that Darcy was wearing at 7AM when she and her family fled their burning house, tells us in the netroots all we need to know about Darcy Burner [...]

Darcy needs to raise about $150,000 this July to keep pace with Dave Reichert and her own 2006 fundraising, and everyday she takes off makes her campaign budget that much harder to hit. That’s about $5,000 a day.

And that’s why I’m joining with bloggers nationwide to ask our readers to contribute what they can today, to help give Darcy the breathing room she needs to tend to her own affairs without worrying about neglecting her campaign. Every $5,000 increment we raise represents a day that Darcy won’t have to dedicate to her own fundraising efforts. It is a gift more precious than money; it is a gift of time.

Race tracker wiki: WA-08

Political candidates will have their good and bad days, but this was one rough day Darcy Burner certainly didn't envision with just over four months until election day.  The above photo shows a distraught Darcy in front of the charred remains of her house.  The Burner family was asleep when the fire started.  While the house is a complete loss, the family thankfully made it out safely.  Unfortunately they did lose their pet cat to the flames, and pretty much everything else inside.

Everyone,

By now, I'm sure you've all seen that the home of Darcy Burner, a netroots hero running in WA-08, was destroyed in a fire.

Well, I think most of us here think that Darcy should be in a different House: The House of Representatives.  And I think that the last thing Darcy needs to worry about is whether she'll have the money to compete down the stretch in one of the most competitive districts in the country.

Let's get Darcy's Q3 numbers off to a good start.  I've set up a special ActBlue page in response to this tragedy, and I've set the target at a relatively modest $5,000.  You know what to do.

Darcy Burner's home was completely destroyed in a fire that broke out at 7:45 this morning.

The family made it out of the house unharmed, but the home is completely destroyed. I spoke with Darcy's campaign manager, Derek Humphrey, a few minutes ago and he stressed that everyone, including their 8 month old puppy, are safe. The cause of the fire has not been determined.

I'll have an update within an hour or so. Our thoughts go out to Darcy and her family.

Update: Let me stress that the cause of the fire has not been determined. According to one story, it appears to have begun in the upstairs room of Darcy's son, Henry. That's as yet unconfirmed.

Race tracker wiki: WA-08

It's that time, the end of the quarter. Darcy Burner turns the floor over to some of the people powering her campaign:

Go help. Reichert has had George Bush, Laura Bush, New Gingrich and John Boehner out to the district to help him try to hang on to this seat. Darcy has us. She's in far better company, both with us and with her colleagues on the Orange to Blue page.

Race tracker wiki: WA-08

In the last couple days, there have been several posts across the blogosphere citing what various candidates running for Congress have said on FISA and retroactive immunity for the telecoms.  But so far, it's been all over the map.  I'll try to corral all their statements into this diary, so you can see who the "good guys" are.

First, let's start off with the current House and Senate members who voted against this bill.  They do deserve credit, as it's their jobs on the line.

Follow me below the fold to see the dozens of Democratic challengers who are standing up for the Constitution, and are against this FISA bill and retroactive immunity.

In the circles of Hell reserved for politicians there is a special place for those pols who were specifically charged with fighting corruption and chose instead, to enable it.

John McCain is one of those politicians and so is Doc Hastings.

The ethically challenged Doc Hastings has been in Congress since 1994 and his career is highlighted by his extreme dedication to Tom DeLay and the Leaders of his Party. As for the people of his District, they are just the chumps who keep sending him back to Washington no matter how little he does for them. This year, his luck may be about to run out.

The WA-04 is shaping up to be a very interesting race. Right now it is rated as being Safe Republican, but I have a hunch that this is one of the long-shot races that could suddenly become very competitive.

A fired-up Democratic base, a very corrupt Republican, a great Democratic Candidate and the unique "Top Two" Primary on August 19 create an opportunity for real change.

To the jump...

Orange to Blue candidate Darcy Burner:

Hi, this is Darcy Burner, running for Congress in Washington's 8th congressional district. Like many of you, I'm incredibly disappointed with today's vote on retroactive immunity for the telecommunications companies. I've made my position on this issue very clear, and I've been happy to be fighting to ensure that we uphold the Constitution through all of this. But the real question is what we do going forward. We need to make sure that we elect people to Congress who are going to defend the Constitution at the same time that the keep this country safe. I promise you, I will never let you down on that. It's time for us to elect more and better Democrats.

Race tracker wiki: WA-08