If you haven't yet heard of Freedoms Watch, lend me your ear. You need to know this.

As you know, this past Tuesday there were two Special Elections (Oh-5, VA-01) to replace Republican Members of Congress who had passed away suddenly. The Republican candidates running were Bob Latta and Rob Wittman who both won their races by comfortable margins.

However, while the Virginia seat was a lock, (Wittman was polling high throughout and held a 4-1 cash advantage over his opponent), the Ohio race was much, much closer than expected.

Toward the end of the race, both the NRCC and DCCC dumped hundreds of thousands of dollars in to the race for their respective candidates with media buys.

And as Matt Margolis reported at Blogs for Victory, the Democrats tossed basically everything at the race.

On the Republican netroots side of the campaign effort, Latta's campaign was propped up by Redstate, Blogs For Victory, Big Red Tent, and Slatecard. (Disclosure: I am a co-founder of Slatecard.)

However, Freedoms Watch, a new conservative powerhouse backed with funding rumored in the hundreds of millions of dollars, also showed up on the field of battle. And they brought something which we bloggers lack -- money.

In fact, in the last few days of the campaign, Freedoms Watch aired this TV ad with a media buy rumored to be close to $500K in the Toledo, OH media market helping educate voters on the Democratic opponent, Robin Weirauch:

Of note, as reported by the Politico, the Democratic Chairman of the DCCC, Chris Van Hollen, has taken notice of Freedoms Watch:

According to Van Hollen, one of several factors that helped Republicans in Ohio was the third-party money spent by Freedom's Watch, a conservative organization headed by former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer. The group spent in the six-figures on an anti-Weirauch attack ad accusing her of supporting "free healthcare for illegal aliens."

"As we saw again in OH-05, our main competition is likely to be Republican 527s, not the NRCC. This cycle Republican 527s have pledged more than a quarter billion dollars toward beating Democrats," Van Hollen wrote in the memo.

The chairman predicted that Freedom's Watch is prepared to spend "an additional $200 million" against Democrats this election cycle.

Further proof that Chris Van Hollen still doesn't really know what he's talking about, Freedoms Watch is actually a 501(C)4 and not a 527.

But seriously: $200 million to help defeat Democrats, folks. That's going to change the landscape for 2008.

The mission of Freedoms Watch:

Freedom's Watch was formed to promote the common good and general welfare of the American people by supporting mainstream conservative public policies. We engage in grassroots lobbying, education and information campaigns, and issue advocacy to further our goals and objectives. We also seek to create coalitions and collaborate with like-minded groups and individuals to further our common goals. Freedom's Watch provides a credible conservative voice and strong leadership on pressing domestic and international issues to keep America strong, safe, and prosperous.

Freedoms Watch is a new force in conservative politics and I'm glad that they showed up on the field to help us hold Ohio-5. They need our help, encouragement, and support as they get this ship off the landing pad.