Had a little conference call with John Courage last night. He is, as you know, in the running for the first DFA endorsement, which if the Richard Morrison experience is any guide could mean upwards of $50,000 in campaign contributions from the national grassroots. He's a teacher and a veteran, and I think he's learned quite a bit from his 2002 campaign, which was in a much different district. I definitely got the sense that he feels a passion for this race, and that he's going to do what it takes to make it a battle.

The next round of voting for the DFA endorsement will begind shortly. Courage, along with the other finalists, will have a personal statement up on the DFA blog to convince you to vote for him. I'll point to that when it's up - we got a preview of it tonight, but we all made some suggestions (led by Boadicea), so I'll wait for the revised version.

In the meantime, I encourage you to learn a little more about John Courage:

Here's a report from his campaign kickoff.

Express-News columnist Bruce Davidson does a mini-profile.

PDiddie is first out of the gate with a report from the con call. Damon and David are close behind.

You may also want to know a little something about Courage's opponent, Rep. Lamar Smith. Here's a copy of a fax Smith (a longtime immigration foe) sent to Karl Rove (it got mistakenly sent to the wrong number - oops!), in which he says "Immigration needs to be considered in the context of: (1). Media Bias, (2). Animosity toward the president and (3) the feelings of the Republican base". Isn't that charming? I'll let your imagination fill in the blanks as to the direction that might go.

So. John Courage. DFA endorsement. Get ready to vote. I think that about covers it.