Making a list…

…checking it twice. Mike Lux at Open Left lists the "...the 10 most important races for this cycle outside of the Presidential." The Minnesota Senate seat gets the number one spot, for reasons I find understandable if not thoroughly convincing. Number 2? That's Darcy...

2. Burner/Reichert. An up-from-the-grassroots progressive, linked closely to the netroots movement, taking out a staunch conservative in a classic swing district? Nothing would be sweeter, or a better symbol of progressive resurgence. Of all the House races, this also goes to the top of the list because of Darcy's authorship of the Responsible Plan to End the War. We need to win this one.

Yes, we do. In fact, while the Franken race may rank above WA-8 in terms of visibility and a degree of symbolic value, I'd argue that the Burner/Reichert race is a more significant bellwether. Not only do we need to win this one, but if we don't we're likely to see a lot of other opportunities slipping away across the map.

As for the Senate, I'm still putting Tom Allen's race against That Woman From Maine at the top of my list. Allen/Collins is tied on the Lux list for 4/5 with the Oregon contest.

But hey, why argue? Let's win 'em all.

(You can, of course, help Darcy and Tom win theirs by chipping in at the Upper Left ActBlue page.)