(Please welcome Blue America candidate Rick Noriega, who is running against John Cornyn for his US Senate seat in Texas, in the comments. You can donate to his campaign here -- jh)

I would not be in the race for U.S. Senate in Texas without the netroots. A group of Texas bloggers banded together to form the Draft Noriega movement, and I answered their call in July to run for U.S. Senate. I experienced first-hand the power of the blogosphere and its democratizing effects.