The Responsible Plan, touted as a progressive Contract with America, was unveiled this week at the Take Back America conference in Washington, D.C. The plan includes several components focused on ending U.S. military action in Iraq and refocusing America’s military and energy policy.

The original sponsors include Netroots favorite Darcy Burner, who lost a close race in Washington’s 8th district in 2006 and is back for a second run against incumbent Dave Reichert this year, and Donna Edwards, who recently defeated Blue Dog Democrat Al Wynn in Maryland’s solid-blue 4th district’s primary.

Now the rush appears to be on, with more Democratic candidates signing up.

Continued: Click “Read more” Joining as signatories are Democrats from Larry Grant in Idaho to Dennis Shulman and Tom Wyka in New Jersey. Jeff Merkley and Steve Novick, who are squaring off for the Democratic nomination in the Oregon Senate race, both endorsed the plan within 24 hours of its release.

Traditionally, congressional candidates do not engage in detailed policy pushes like this one, but the Responsible Plan is being touted as a win-win for Democratic candidates and the progressive movement as a whole: end the war responsibly, elect Democrats in a policy-platform wave as the Republican Contract with America did in 1994, and move the proverbial ball down the field on important legislation already before Congress. The plan (pdf) highlights several bills, along with their current cosponsors, that would serve as components of a successful execution of the plan. Notable among them is H.R. 4102, the Stop Outsourcing Security Act, sponsored by Rep. Janice Schakowski (D-IL) and 24 cosponsors, which would end the use of private military contractors like Blackwater in conflict zones such as Iraq.

The announcement was made Sunday by Darcy Burner (pictured), a candidate for Congress in Washington’s 8th Congressional district, and Matt Stoller, who blogs at OpenLeft.com, at a blogger forum and training in Washington, D.C., today.  The plan will be rolled out Monday at the three-day Take Back America conference, which will include progressive activists, Democratic officials and bloggers from across the country.

Burner said in her remarks, “Ten years ago it would have been impossible for a congressional candidate like me to have an impact on the policy dialog,” and noted that the candidates who are signing on to this plan are taking a large risk. Burner called on bloggers from across the country to call attention to the plan, to which 10 congressional candidates have already signed on.

Stoller said of the plan “we want to allow the public to translate their desire to end the war by voting for candidates who want to end the war … this is an important effort, and we’re going to put it to the voters.” According to Burner, retired Gen. Paul Eaton, who preceded David Petraeus in commanding U.S. forces in Iraq, was a major resource in building the plan.

The main points of the plan include:

• No residual troops
• A diplomatic surge
• Humanitarian work — engaging the international community
• Fixing the structural problems at home that got us into the war in the first place: eliminate presidential signing statements, eliminate the use of torture, phase out the use of private contractors

The full plan will appear on Monday at ResponsiblePlan.com.