As you may have heard, Darcy Burner's house was destroyed.

And as a candidate, she now has to make a choice with every minute of her time: spend it with family to get things in order, or go back to raising money for her campaign.

Markos issued a challenge: let's get her up to $400,000 across ActBlue and give her some breathing space to spend with he family instead of fundraising.

Says Kos:

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.

She is family.

So let's pitch in and help one of our leaders in a time of need.

Update [2008-7-2 17:21:15 by Todd Beeton]:"It's just stuff."

Everyone,

In case you haven't seen the news: the home of Darcy Burner, a netroots hero running for Congress in WA-08, was destroyed in a fire this morning.

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 across the entire netroots.  You know what to do.  And I know we had a huge end-of-quarter push netroots-wide yesterday, but extraordinary times require extraordinary measures.

If you didn't give anything during the end-of-quarter push, maybe this will spur you.

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.

I am stepping a bit outside my usual MN parochialism and I am going to promote my favorite outstate challenger.  Darcy Burner.

Hello MyDD,

Darcy Burner, Democratic Candidate in Washington's 8th District is live-blogging right now at Future Majority.  

Darcy is participating in the Serve with the General competition put together by Democrat's Work.  She's reaching out to young people to help her campaign and to help her win the competition to send General Wesley Clark to her district. Please come by and chat with Darcy about her race, and why she deserves your vote.

Come join us.  I've posted Darcy's initial comments in the extended diary.

The first round votes have been counted and we are down to the final five!  

Thousands and thousands of people cast first round votes in "Serve with the General" - the contest that will send General Wes Clark to one lucky Congressional District to participate in a community service project.  The race to get into the final round was extremely close!

Now it is time to pick from the final five districts: Washington's 8th (Darcy Burner), California's 4th (Charlie Brown), North Carolina's 10th (Daniel Johnson), Colorado's 4th (Betsy Markey), or Minnesota's 3rd (Ashwin Madia).

Click here to cast your final round vote!

(Every district starts back at zero votes for the final round, so make sure you cast a final round vote.)

You get to decide where Democrats will roll up their sleeves at a community service event with General Clark this summer.  

So cast your vote today!  The final round of voting ends this Friday, June 6th, at 12:00 midnight eastern time.  

Thank you for your participation and for putting your Democratic values into action.  Spread the word!

Somewhere along the line the pundits forgot that politics doesn't begin and end in Washington, DC.  They focus on FOX News appearances and ABC debates and the words of a pastor, but they fail to look at how some of us are making appearances in our communities, finding solutions, and getting beyond words.  

With every campaign talking about change this year, let's look some of the people who are changing the way they campaign.  Let's look at people who aren't just saying how they would act if they were elected, but are showing through their actions the very nature of their commitment and leadership.

Today is the last day of the quarter, which means if you haven't given, today is the day to give. No doubt many readers have given to their preferred presidential candidate but I hope you will consider being generous with our excellent congressional challengers as well. We have a lot of great ones and they deserve your support. Here are two that have gotten some end of quarter dollars from yours truly.

• Darcy Burner in WA-08: Darcy is coming to Los Angeles on the 9th for a low dollar fundraiser. If you're in LA and want to attend, it's just $25, but it's important to give and RSVP today at the event's Act Blue page. Even if you're not able to attend, you can still use the page to give to Darcy's campaign.

  From the event's Facebook page:

  The event will be from 6:00pm to 8:00 at a supporter's home, and it's only $25 to get in and meet Darcy (or $100 to be on the host committee). Darcy is not only a co-author of the new Responsible Plan to end the War in Iraq, but also a leader on issues like telecom immunity and net neutrality.

• Jim Himes in CT-04: Join me in giving just $20.08 to his campaign by midnight tonight. Here's Jim's pitch:

  I deeply want you to be invested in what we're doing in this campaign - in repairing the damage that Chris Shays and George Bush have caused, and refocusing our priorities by bringing a stronger progressive majority to Congress.

  For more on the campaign to send the last Republican congressman in New England packing, check out the Jim Himes campaign blog.

I have to run out but there are plenty more challengers deserving our support. Check out the MyDD diaries on behalf of Joe Garcia in FL-25 and Tom Perriello in VA-05 for just two more. Also, check out Senate Guru's new home for a great graphic rundown of the senate challengers that could use your help.

I want everyone to commit to give to at least one congressional challenger by midnight tonight, even if it's just a few bucks. Tell us who you're supporting -- with contribution link -- in the comments.