Last Saturday, Howie Klein introduced a week-long Blue America Contest, "to spotlight nine of our House endorsees this week who may eventually wind up in the program but who need campaign cash to compete effectively now."

That "now" is the critical word. Ads must be produced now, though they may not appear until later. Time slots and ad spaces must be purchased now, though the ads may not be slated to run until sometime several weeks down the line. Strategies for October and November must be planned now, to get enthusiasm and energy and turnout all revved up for election day. A sudden flood of cash the day before the election is nice, but by then there's no time to spend it. These campaigns need cash, and they need it now. 

The contest works like this: Blue America has a special contest contribution website, where every donor who makes a contribution (of any size) will be able to "vote" to see who should receive an extra $5000 contribution from Blue America. This would be in addition to whatever money each candidate receives in direct donations, of course.

$5000 may not seem like a lot, when we hear stories about the millions being spent on the presidential races, governor's contests,  and various Senate battles. But for a House race, especially in areas away from major media markets, $5000 can go a long way.

For instance . . .

A full page newspaper ad in a small district can cost as little as $1000. An extra $5000 means five full page ads. Five ads in one paper, or one ad in five different papers. Either way, that's some nice publicity.

In a major metropolitan paper, a full page ad in the main news section might run $40,000, but a full page in the local section might run just $6000. A full page ad in a regional network of small papers could run for around $11,000.  When the $5000 prize is combined with whatever donations come in to win the contest, that puts that full page ad in the local section within reach, and would be a big step toward what is needed for that regional network ad buy.

Then there's radio and cable television. According to one person familiar with campaign media advertising rates that I contacted, $5000 paid for a solid, heavy-rotation radio advertising blitz in a medium sized market, and $6000 paid for a week's worth of cable ads in heavy rotation -- some 800+ spots!

What else? $5000 would buy a candidate a billboard ad along a major highway in district filled with suburban commuters. That's lots of eyeballs, every day from now to the election.

Your vote -- and your contributions -- can make that happen for the candidate that gets you the most excited.

The nine candidates in this Blue America contest are already excited about the possibility, and some have been putting the word out to their supporters about what we are doing. On their campaign websites you can see more about them, and in some cases, you can see the ads they'd like to give much more distribution, with some financial help from people like you.

Here are the nine Blue America candidates (with links to their sites) that are part of this contest:

Sam Bennett (PA-15) - Lehigh Valley

Debbie Cook (CA-46) - Orange County

Larry Joe Doherty (TX-10) - northern Austin to Brenham and Katy

Alan Grayson (FL-08) - Orlando

Jared Polis (CO-02) - Boulder and Westminster out to Eagle County

Dennis Shulman (NJ-05) - northern New Jersey from Bergen and Passaic around to Warren County

Annette Taddeo (FL-18) - Miami-Dade from Miami Beach and Coral Gables down to Key West

Russ Warner (CA-26) - northeast L.A. suburbans from Rancho Cucamonga to Arcadia

Barry Welsh (IN-06) - east central Indiana centered on Muncie

They need your help, and they need it now. Tell 'em Blue America sent you.