Pro-Statehood Signs Pop Up Around Town

Update, 3:30 p.m.: The statehood site is now live, though it’s pretty basic. Just as quickly as the 2008 presidential campaign signs have come down, new ones have taken their place. Over the weekend, D.C. voting rights activists hung signs advocating for statehood. Designed to look like the District’s flag and emblazoned with Obama’s “Yes We Can!” slogan, the signs were the brainchild of Shadow Senator Michael Brown and paid for by the D.C. Statehood Fund. The fund collects money from the check-box on D.C. tax forms that allows residents to donate money to education and lobbying for voting rights. Brown said that he and fellow Shadow Senator Paul Strauss, Shadow Representative Michael Panetta and 50 volunteers were out hanging signs over the weekend; of the 10,000 that were printed, about 8,500 went up. If you look closely, you might see a URL at the bottom of each sign — statehood.dc.gov — but if

you actually try and visit the site, you won’t have much luck. Brown said that he was aware that the site isn’t yet live, but that he’s working with the city to try and get it up within the next day or so. The renewed push for statehood comes at the same time as the House and Senate will be debating legislation that would grant D.C. a voting seat in the House . Though the measure has been praised by many as a pragmatic approach to gaining voting rights for D.C. residents, others have said that it distracts from the larger question of becoming the 51st state. The District’s shadow delegation, which is charged with advocating for statehood, has been stuck in the awkward position of both pushing for the legislation on the Hill while remaining engaged in the statehood movement.

Washington DCmore:
Pro-Statehood Signs Pop Up Around Town