Hamilton Leithauser

Because Harris and Walz support statehood for DC

My mother lived in Washington, DC, from 1946 until her death in 2021. She was just as American as any other American citizen, but she never had a representative in the United States Congress. She had a “nonvoting delegate” (Eleanor Holmes Norton for most of my life). My mother’s voice was not heard in Congress because her vote did not exist. She went to public school, paid her taxes, and obeyed the law. This is the very definition of “taxation without representation,” which was the primary motivation behind the American Revolution, and arguably the foundation of the entire country. In 2022, the State of California had a population over sixty-seven times that of Wyoming (according to a lazy Google search). Both states have two senators. Obviously, Wyomingites’ interests are wildly overrepresented, and Californians are getting screwed. But both are represented. I’d take a 1/67 of a vote over zero votes any day of the week. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz promote a Democratic agenda which, for many decades, has always included statehood for DC as a far-fetched but urgent priority.

Mitch McConnell killed the strongest push yet in 2020 by blowing fog at the injustice with distracting vagaries about “full-bore socialism,” “too close to home,” and “power grabs.” We all know why he didn’t want it to happen—DC is one of the most liberal areas of the country, and Mitch is a cunning, Machiavellian liar with some kind of endgame that I guess involves everyone around him… what? Happy?! Hah! Now that is far-fetched. Sadly, every single other Republican politician so far has been happy to huff Mitch’s fog. And so, the disenfranchisement will continue until enough Americans recognize the injustice, and it becomes politically beneficial for enough senators to stand up against this inequality. It’s as easy as that! If Kamala is elected, we can continue the conversation. If the other guy and his dumbbells get in there, the chances are zero.

Hamilton Leithauser writes and produces music in New York City.