On Monday, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams signed a bill that gives the District the first presidential primary vote for the 2004 election. The measure, first proposed by Ward 2 City Council member Jack Evans, would move the District’s primary to Jan. 13, 2004, two weeks before the New Hampshire primary and a week before the Iowa caucuses. Evans proposed the measure in hopes of attracting national attention to the District’s lack of congressional representation. Once the rest of the country becomes more aware of the District’s plight, then the movement for D.C. representation in Congress can’t help but intensify. While both the Republican and Democratic parties have expressed their disgust at the D.C. plan and threatened sanctions, the broader goal of attracting attention to the District is worth the consequences that may arise. We urge the District to take full advantage of the position.
Currently, the only official role the District plays in Congress is through an elected “delegate” to the House who has minimal power and is symbolic in every sense. While the District has tried to publicize this lack of representation for years, never has the city taken a measure of such magnitude.
Many in D.C. government feel that the reason other attempts have failed is that outside of the District, people do not know that residents of Washington do not have congressional representation. An early primary would force candidates to address the issues of the District, including the most important: Congressional representation.
Unfortunately, resistance to this plan has been strong from both sides of the political spectrum. The Republican Party has said it will not recognize the primary, and despite the almost guaranteed seats in Congress for the Democratic Party that would result from District representation, the Democratic National Committee has threatened to forfeit all but one of the District’s delegates at the National Convention. Furthermore, many major Democratic candidates, including Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) have said they will not appear on the D.C. primary ballot. The parties’ reasoning for dismissing the District’s request is far from compelling when compared to the rights of representation: Both parties do not want to change precedent and campaign schedules.
The issue of D.C. representation has been neglected far too long in national politics. People of America need to know residents of our nation’s capital have no legislators in Congress. The District has found an excellent means to spread its message throughout the country.
