Forty Years of Lip Service: D.C. in National Party Platforms

Yesterday, with little fanfare, members of the Democratic party ratified their quadrennial platform at the Charlotte convention. Contained therein are two sentences pertaining to the District of Columbia, calling for “equal citizenship rights” for its residents.

The language was the subject of a minor controversy, with Mayor Vincent C. Gray and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton striving to have their party include the word “statehood” in the platform for the first time since 2000.

The S-word was pulled in 2004 as the city embarked on a new strategy to secure a voting seat in the House through congressional legislation. The talk of statehood, it was thought at the time, could undercut support for the half-measure. But the House compromise has been essentially dead since 2008, when a gun amendment supported by many Senate Democrats fouled its passage. Now Norton, Gray and most local activists have tried to put statehood back atop the D.C. democracy agenda. . .

To continue reading this article follow the link below.

###

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/mike-debonis/post/forty- years-of-lip-service-dc-in-national-party-platforms/2012/09/05/345a1a7a-f770-11e1-8b93-c4f4ab1c8d13_blog.html

      Print Friendly