Andrew Mollenbeck, wtop.com
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – This week, it’s the Democrats’ turn to make their case to voters, but while the delegates travel to the convention, advocates for D.C. statehood will highlight their own cause celebre.
Shadow Sen. Michael Brown and outgoing Shadow Rep. Mike Panetta helped secure two billboards in the host city, one of which is little more than a football field’s length from the Time Warner Arena.
The call for statehood will greet thousands of delegates en route to the various convention sites.
“Americans living in the nation’s capital deserve equality and ultimately statehood,” says Ilir Zherka, the executive director of D.C. Vote.
Democracy supporters for the District have multiple events planned for the week, including a rally Tuesday with Mayor Vince Gray and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton.
The rally is to “to make one simple but very powerful point, and that is that Washingtonians should be able to spend their own money without any federal involvement or interference,” Zherka says.
While the Democratic platform is decidedly more open to increasing D.C.’s autonomy than the Republican platform, it does not include statehood for the District.
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(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)
