One of the things I had intended to do while at Netroots Nation this year was interviews with candidates and other folks. Unfortunately, in the rush to pack and leave, I managed to leave my digital voice recorder at home. That kind of put a damper on those plans, but as I had already scheduled an interview with Diana Maldonado, I needed to figure something out. Thankfully, Eileen Smith came to my rescue by letting me borrow her little video recorder, which she used to great effect on Poll Dancing, so I was able to salvage that. And I quickly learned why folks like RG Ratcliffe, who have done a lot more video interviews than I have, invest in a tripod. It's harder than you think to hold that camera still for ten minutes. I don't think I shook it too much, but I'll apologize in advance for any vertigo this causes.

Anyway. Diana Maldonado is a great candidate, representing one of the top pickup opportunities for Texas Democrats in the House. She was also the first candidate endorsed by the TexBlog PAC. Here she is, in my first and possibly last video interview: