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. This 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.
It is easy to dehumanize candidates during a heated campaign, but then with a thud, stuff like this happens and suddenly the political race seems far less important than the need to pick oneself back up and rebuild a home and a life.
We learn a lot about other people, and about ourselves in times of adversity. The Burners will have a different outlook on things because of this personal loss, but I suspect they will also bounce back strong, and Darcy, the candidate, will find renewed determination to do whatever it takes over the next four months to win the election so she can work in Congress to end the war in Iraq.
Take a look again at the photo. The caption says she's "wearing a gray T-shirt." However, people here will see more significance than that in the geeky "</war>" message on the front of it. Darcy isn't just a candidate for Congress, she's one of us!
We need to do whatever we can to volunteer, or financially help the campaign out while Darcy is unable to as she focuses on her family and rebuilding her home.
Update: With Kos leading the charge, various national blogs are doing a fundraising drive:
Open Left
Eschaton
MyDD
Swing State Project
The photo of Darcy is featured on each. Our collective goal is to raise $150,000, enough to give Darcy 30 days of fundraising cover so she can focus on her family and home during that time.
Update: As of 6pm PST the Netroots have raised $64,000. Amazing!