Moveon is going to start dipping its toe in Presidential waters.

Starting today, Democratic presidential hopefuls have a new contest to vie for: the endorsement of MoveOn.org. The influential progressive interest group, which boosts of having 3.2 million members, plans to hold three "virtual town hall" meetings with the candidates starting next month. At the first, on April 10, the candidates will answer questions from MoveOn members about Iraq; sessions later this year will focus on health care and energy policy.

"The idea is not to have a gotcha moment, but there will be tough questions they'll have to answer," says Eli Pariser, executive director of MoveOn's political action committee. "Hopefully, it will help push the policy towards the direction we want to see."

All of the presidential candidates -- Republicans and Democrats -- are eligible to participate, but it's not clear if any Republicans will actually snag an invitation. MoveOn members will vote on which candidates should be allowed to take part in the 90-minute event and only those who get the nod from at least 10% of respondents will be invited.

If you are a Moveon member (and that means giving them your email address), you can vote on who you think should get an invitation, submit questions, and ultimately vote on some sort of quasi-endorsement or statement of approval.

This is a big deal, because it's the first time that various political candidates are going to hear from activists on Iraq, and be held accountable for their positions.  It's important at this point for people knowledgable in the issue to explore the various candidate plans and track records, and begin to equip activists with useful questions.

The townhall takes place on April 10.