One of the great things about Netroots Nation this year was the exceptional access to candidates that we had. I got to meet and have extended conversations with several of our challengers and I just wanted to feature two candidates that I think really made an impression at this year's conference.

Everywhere you looked, it seemed, there was Annette Taddeo. Taddeo, a self-described "non-Cuban Hispanic Jewish-American," is running in FL-18 against entrenched Bush rubber stamp Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, one of the three Cuban-American incumbents struggling to hold onto their seats in southern Florida this year.  

Her district contains parts of Miami including Miami Beach yet is R+4, largely because of the Cuban-American population, which traditionally votes Republican. It's an uphill climb but Taddeo is a real progressive running in an increasingly progressive district. It's great to see that the DCCC intends to buy ad time in FL-18 to support Taddeo. Charlie Cook sees the potential of Taddeo as well, having upgraded her race from Strong Republican to Likely Republican. As Taddeo told us at the Future Leaders panel at NN, her opponent is voting more with Democrats and is essentially running as one since Taddeo got in the race. In order to continue to win in this district, Ros-Lehtinen must hide her true Bush rubber stamp record from the voters and Taddeo is determined not to let her do that.

Join DFA in helping Annette Taddeo get her message out by giving to her campaign at Act Blue.

Below is Annette at a DFA event in Austin:

Another candidate that created a lot of buzz at Netroots Nation is Debbie Cook, Mayor of Huntington Beach, who is running against "lazy crazy" Dana Rohrabacher in CA-46. Rohrabacher has been in the House since 1989 and has won re-election easily every cycle because his district is at the northern end of what has long been ruby red Orange County. Rohrabacher should be vulnerable, as every year he says some crazy shit, but never pays for it because his challengers are underfunded and out-manned.

The free ride is over. Cook, the well-regarded mayor of the district's largest city, is running a real race this year, having out-raised Rohrabacher two quarters in a row. A long-time energy activist, Cook is running on energy in a year when it is on everyone's minds and when people see it as an economic issue, an environmental issue and a moral issue. At Netroots Nation, Cook impressed on the Energizing America panel and followed that appearance up with a call to action over at calitics. Debbie Cook is a strong candidate who is serious about engaging the netroots, serious about changing the way we think about and use energy and serious about sending lazy crazy Dana Rohrabacher packing.

Show Cook some love over at Act Blue.

Below is an interview TPM did with Cook at Netroots Nation:

Don't forget tomorrow is the DCCC's Mobilize for Change: A National Day of Action marking 100 Days to the election. If you want to help these candidates out, or your own favorite candidate, tomorrow is the day to join up with the campaign.