Washington, D.C., Deserves Vote in Congress Now

Robert Schlesinger

The subtext to this debate is baldly, politically partisan. "This is not an attempt to secure representation for District residents' interests," the Heritage Foundation's Hans von Spakovsky warned in National Review, "but a raw grab at political power." (This is the same man whose appointment to the Federal Election Commission Democrats blocked last year amid vote suppression allegations stemming from his tenure at George W. Bush's Justice Department.) D.C. advocates take the opposite view: that the GOP is less concerned with equal representation or constitutionality than with keeping Democrats from gaining a seat in the House (and, perhaps, two in the Senate).

Imputing the worst possible motives to one's opponents doesn't help our discourse. But if we must get down to mud-tossing, I'm happy to be on the side of making sure 600,000 Americans get their full share of our political system. 

• Read more by Robert Schlesinger.

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