D.C. DUers: Let's discuss DC voting rights & '08 election (repost)

[journalist3072]

Just wanted to have a conversation with my fellow DC DUers about the 2008 election and DC voting rights.

I don't know about anyone else, but I cannot and will not support anyone running for President, who does not understand how important it is, that the very same DC residents who pay federal taxes every year, finally be granted representation in both houses of Congress.

I have queried the campaign websites of all three "top-tier" Democrats running for President (Clinton, Obama and Edwards). And from what I can tell, Sen. Clinton is the only one among them, who mentions DC voting rights on her website.

She issued a press release congratulating the House of Representatives for passing the DC Voting Rights Act. See here: http://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/release/view/?id=1457

Outside of the top-tier candidates, Dennis Kucinich also mentions DC voting rights on his campaign website: http://kucinich.us/issues/dc_statehood.php

With respect to Sen. John Edwards, I have pretty much ruled out voting for him. In 2004, he was one of the five Democrats running for President, who asked to have his name removed from the DC ballot. You might recall that in order to shed light on the lack of DC voting rights, DC held a non-binding Presidential primary BEFORE Iowa and New Hampshire held their caucus and primary. We then held a binding presidential primary as scheduled. But five of the Democrats running for President that year, apparently decided to put tradition ahead of what was right for DC residents. They did not appreciate DC holding a non-binding primary before Iowa and New Hampshire, and so they asked to have their names removed from the ballot. Because of that, I cannot support John Edwards this time around.

Finally, don't forget that the Democrats running for President, will hold a debate on the campus of Howard University on June 28. You can go to the Black America Web site and submit your question to them. I submitted a question asking all of the candidates where they stand on DC voting rights.

http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/promos/americandebate

(NOTE: Reposting this since previous thread got lost in DU shuffle.)