Washingtonians are powerless today.
We sit in the eye of the political storm raging around us. The storm could rumble through and change our lives. Democrats could sweep Republicans from power. Law firms where we work could win or lose clients; lobbying firms that were up could be down. All we can do is wait and watch and root for our team. What we cannot do is vote for anyone or anything that matters in this midterm election.
We have no senators. We have our one, nonvoting member of Congress. Not having a vote on the House floor, she doesn’t count. Nor do we.
This is the day that reminds us we are irrelevant in national politics. We are 550,000 Americans who pay taxes, fight in wars, help run the government — but cannot exercise the fundamental democratic right of voting for someone to represent us fully in Congress.
On the day when politicians play the biggest game of the year, Washingtonians got no game.
The political hothouse in Virginia and Maryland only make us feel more powerless. We are the hub of the wheel, surrounded by the suburbs of Virginia to the south and west, Maryland to the north and east. Our televisions and newspapers and Internet blast us with news of the Senate and gubernatorial races. The winners will have an inordinate effect on us as the center city of the region, yet we have no voice in whether they win or lose.
Consider George Allen, the Republican incumbent senator from Virginia. He is by all accounts extremely conservative. He has demonstrated his antipathy to people who are not Caucasian and Virginian, even though he is from California and his roots are Jewish. Cameras caught him disparaging a young man with Indian roots. Schoolmates have said he fancied Confederate flags and denigrated blacks. He’s taken a hard-line position on immigration.
No wonder Allen has shown no interest in integrating D.C. and Virginia in matters of regional cooperation. If he beats challenger Jim Webb today, we Washingtonians will continue to get the back of his hand.
In Maryland, Congressman Ben Cardin has been a good friend to the District of Columbia. He would be a positive force for us in the Senate. His opponent, Michael Steele, is black, but as a Republican and lieutenant governor, he has shown no love for D.C.
Which brings me to the governor’s race in Maryland. Incumbent Republican Robert Ehrlich has not been abusive to D.C., but he hasn’t been overly cooperative, either. Compare that to challenger Martin O’Malley, the Democratic mayor of Baltimore. It turns out that Adrian Fenty, who most likely will win election to be our mayor, is already close to O’Malley.
If O’Malley wins, residents of the capital city stand to benefit.
The best news for Washingtonians would be a Democratic takeover of the House. That might take us one step closer to getting full voting rights, so that four years from now, we might count.
