This is a heartwarmer.

Darcy Burner, a progressive congressional candidate from outside Seattle, has long been a favorite of the netroots crowd. On Tuesday, Darcy’s house burned down. To the ground. Lost everything. Her husband, son and dog survived. The cat died.

Having worked on a heated congressional race like Darcy’s, I wouldn’t be surprised if a tragedy like this ended her candidacy. Campaigns can take a huge personal toll. Fires can take a huge personal toll. Together, those tolls could be too much.

But Darcy ran out of her house wearing this t-shirt:

That logo on her shirt is programmer code for “end war.” Six small characters that proved, even at her most vulnerable moment, that Darcy is both an anti-war crusader AND a big nerd. In other words, the perfect fit for the netroots blogger crowd.

Daily Kos’s Markos Moulitsas picked up on this image and used it to start a firestorm of fundraising for Darcy. He wrote, “Darcy is a huge netroots sensation because she is truly one of us — a former Microsoft exec who is a geek at heart … Darcy needs to raise about $150,000 this July … and everyday she takes off makes her campaign budget that much harder to hit. That’s about $5,000 a day. And that’s why I’m joining with bloggers nationwide to ask our readers to contribute what they can today, to help give Darcy the breathing room she needs to tend to her own affairs without worrying about neglecting her campaign.”

As of today, the effort has netted almost $100,000 through Kos’s “Orange to Blue” Act Blue page, including $100 from me. I ponied up because the Congress will be a better place with Darcy in it. But also because I appreciate innovative, interesting online organizing asks. I especially appreciate times when progressives rapidly respond to emotional moments, and harness powerful, touching narratives to advance our agenda. Bravo to the Kos community for getting beyond dry, intellectual arguments and creatively going for the heartstrings. If we did more of that, maybe we could /war a little sooner!