During a recent five-city fundraising trip, President Obama told Democratic supporters in Seattle that although “a lot of people are discouraged and a lot of people are disillusioned,” they must brace themselves for a “tough” 2012 re-election campaign, lest Republicans take the White House and “fundamentally cripple” America. Even for overheated campaign rhetoric, this was a bit over the top. Especially since the results of decades of Democrat-only rule are so readily apparent in Washington, D.C., home of the president’s most ardent supporters. D.C. voters gave Obama an overwhelming 85.9-point margin of victory over Republican John McCain in 2008. The only state to even come close was Vermont, which gave Obama a 37-point advantage over McCain.
Between 1874 and 1974, the District of Columbia was run by a Board of Commissioners made up of three presidential appointees: one Democrat, one Republican, and one civil engineer of no specified party. After D.C. won home rule in 1975, all six elected mayors have been Democrats, including incumbent Vincent Gray. For years, Carol Schwartz was the lone Republican on the District Council until she lost her 2008 primary to Patrick Mara, who went on to lose in the general election.
In fact, only two current council members are not Democrats: Michael Brown, who was formerly registered as a Democrat but switched to independent status to campaign for the at-large seat, and David Catania, who left the GOP in 2004. Republicans have never even come close to running this bluest of blue towns.
For their unswerving loyalty to Democrats, here’s what D.C. voters have gotten in return:
» Their sitting mayor was embroiled in an elections scandal before he was elected, a nepotism scandal afterward, and was forced to fire his chief of staff and deputy chief of staff for ethics violations.
» A majority of the 13 D.C. Council members are either under investigation or have been accused of ethics and/or campaign finance violations.
» More than half of D.C. Public Schools students fail to graduate with a high school diploma, and many drop out in ninth grade.
» Despite slight gains in standardized test scores, DCPS remains one of the worst public school systems in the U.S.
» With a population of 601,723 residents, the District government spends more than $10 billion annually. Yet nearly a fifth of D.C. residents remain below the federal poverty line.
» The city can’t keep illegal immigrants out — or incarcerated youths in its New Beginnings Youth Development Center.
» While battling a full-blown HIV/AIDS epidemic, the D.C. government gave $300,000 intended to help AIDS victims to a convicted drug dealer, who allegedly used the money to set up a strip club instead.
» Despite the presence of the federal government, the District lost 12,500 jobs in August, one of the largest month-over-month declines in the nation, according to the Department of Labor. At 11.1 percent, the District’s overall unemployment rate is higher than the 9.1 percent national average. But the jobless rate in some predominantly black D.C. neighborhoods is closer to 30 percent.
That list could discourage or disillusion anyone. But President Obama is just following the same playbook D.C. Democrats have been using for decades. He’s imposing the same liberal policies nationwide that have failed so many District residents.
Obama wants them to believe that electing Republicans would somehow make things even worse. But if this is all D.C. Democrats can deliver after 36 years of one-party rule, it just might be worth the risk.
Barbara F. Hollingsworth is The Examiner’s local opinion editor.
