Statehood activist asks "Where's My Star?"

WASHINGTON - One activist is trying to inject some new life into the fight for D.C. statehood.

Mike Panetta is D.C.'s Shadow Representative -- or as he calls it, "super-advocate, cheerleader, chief lobbyist."

"The D.C. Voting Rights movement has been all carrot, no stick for a long time," he says. "What I'm trying to do is rattle the cages."

While some statehood activists like to re-enact the Tea Party, Panetta has different tactics, like trying to rename Nationals Stadium "Taxation Without Representation Field."

Panetta is also rolling out attack ads, targeting members of Congress who interfere with District affairs. The ads will begin to run this week in Mississippi and Montana, where lawmakers worked to overturn D.C.'s gun law.

"I've done some things over the years that some people may look at and say 'That's kind of silly,'" he says, "like starting an Olympic Team for the District of Columbia."

"I'm calling (the campaign), 'Where's My Star?,' " he says. "Because when we look at the American flag , we have to realize, yes, that's the symbol of our country, but it also smacks us in the face that we're not on that flag, that we're not represented there."

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