DNC Urges D.C. Residents To Ask For The Vote Of Their Non-Voting Congresswoman

Far be it for me to criticize the campaign arm of the White House/DNC, Organizing For America, seeing as they have successfully gotten one more president elected to office than I have. But I have to think that if you want to maintain this reputation of being awesomely granular sorters of voter data and skilled messaging micro-targeters who can quickly and effectively align voter support for key priorities, then the emails you send out to constituents ought to demonstrate that you have a functioning understanding of how... say, the U.S. House Of Representatives works. That way, you avoid sending voters perplexingly useless missives, like the one that Mitch Stewart, Director of OFA, blasted out to residents of the District of Columbia:

[NAME REMOVED] --

This is it -- the House of Representatives will vote on health insurance reform tomorrow. All signs point to it being incredibly close, possibly even coming down to a single vote.

With the clock ticking, insurance company lobbyists are going all out to stop reform. Please call Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton at 202-225-8050 now.

Today, President Obama is visiting the House to call for reform, and I hope you'll add your voice to his. If you haven't called before, now is the time. And if you have recently called, thank you -- now please ask friends, family members, and co-workers in your district to join you.

http://my.barackobama.com/HouseVote

Everything we're fighting for comes down to moments like this -- and every second counts.

Thanks for stepping up,

Mitch

Well, I have to say, if the House health reform bill does come down to a single vote, reform proponents better hope like hell that single vote doesn't have to come from Eleanor Holmes Norton! This is not because Norton isn't an awesome lady -- she is, as evidenced by her many appearances on the Colbert Report. But while Norton is an ally of the White House and supports the larger effort to expand health care coverage, as the duly sworn representative of the District, she does not enjoy voting privileges. So, as far as her vote goes, she would vote if she could vote but she can't vote so she won't vote.

Anyway, thanks, Mitch Stewart, for reminding the residents of the District of Columbia that they enjoy second-class status and their hopes are largely tied to other people's representatives.

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Comments

[Unionman12]

So sad that D.C. will never get a vote. Not unlike Puerto Rico or American Samoa. Too heavily Democrat. The Republican party is for democracy, as long as you don't vote for the other guys. Anyway, I agree with RadCenter, nothing wrong with them passing their opinions onto their Representative.

[BLBass]

Yet another reason to ignore that dude's emails (or rather to continue doing so). The local OFA/DNC people are fine, but I have yet to read a truly relevant piece of information from ol' Mitch.

[garcia83]

Man, how can I get a job like Norton's?

[Solja]

You can't. She will never be voted out of office. She will be as old as Robert Byrd when she leaves. She is just THAT good, even though she doesn't have a vote.

Maybe if Congress would go ahead and make DC a state, we'd have her vote. What's the hold up anyway?

[RadCenter]

I disagree. While Norton may not be able to vote, her constituents should still be encouraged to call and express their opinions. Because she can convey those opinions to voting members of the House.