D.C. Voting Rights Plight Drowned Out by Din in Denver

DENVER, Aug. 27 -- The day did not start well for the activists from the District.

Armed with buttons, bumper stickers and postcards, they took to the downtown streets here to sign up compatriots in their fight to win the District a seat in Congress.

"Here, have a wooden nickel," said D.C. resident John Capozzi, pressing a coin stamped "Taxation Without Representation" into a woman's hand.

She looked confused. "Do I need this for the bus?" she asked.

As the D.C. delegation attends yet another convention hoping to draw attention to the long and so far fruitless cause, members have found that their message of democracy and equality for the colony known as the District of Columbia is as much of an afterthought, curiosity or nuisance as ever.

During an action-packed week, the D.C. contingent is being drowned out not just by the official convention activities but also by dozens of other protest movements, Hollywood celebrities and advertisers competing for air time.

When Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) gave an address on voting rights Tuesday, the 19,000-seat Pepsi Center was largely empty. When the delegation rallied Wednesday at the U.S. Mint, the passers-by were outnumbered by security guards.

The situation has been frustrating for a group that thinks it is on the verge of success. Last year, the House approved a bill that would give a House seat to the majority-Democratic District and one to predominantly Republican Utah. But the bill fell three votes short of reaching the Senate floor.

Denver resident Joanna Fletchall was riding her bicycle past the mint when she stopped to watch the gathering. Like many who saw the D.C. activists, Fletchall said she had never considered the city's plight.

"I'm astounded," she said. "It's a city, they're people, they should have a vote." But Fletchall said she wasn't sure how well the message was getting out. A bigger protest involving Code Pink and other national groups had taken place a block away the day before.

Even D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) appeared preoccupied, arriving 15 minutes late. He is staying at a different hotel from the rest of the city's delegation and spent the morning on a 45-minute bike ride, angering some delegates when he failed to show up at their planning breakfast.

Fenty marched with the group from the mint, holding a "Taxation Without Representation" banner. But he was not as fiery as Norton, and he uncharacteristically preached patience.