I just got back into town after being at YearlyKos the latter half of last week. We (Danny Rose from DC Vote, Martin Austermuhle from DCist, and Keshini Luddewhetty from DC for Democracy, and myself) had a great session on DC Voting Rights and Martin even live blogged it in case you couldn’t make it.

I talked to anyone and everyone who would listen about the need to pass the DC Voting Rights Act so that we could end our colonial status in our our own country. I even told Howard Dean that, although I liked his 50-state strategy..I was more interested in a 51 state strategy. He laughed and said he’s been working to get the DC Voting Rights Act passed. I said it’s a good first step

Did you know that the Olympics start in one year?? Do you know what we are going to do if this bill doesn’t pass? That’s right…fire up the ‘ole DC Olympic Team. What should be our summer sport?

As you know, the DC Voting Rights Act is still in the Senate where it is just a few votes shy of being filibuster proof. Next week Congress leaves town for its August recess, so it’s urgent that you take some time for one more push on this bill before the Senate shuts down on August 3rd. Here are few quick things you can do:

National Call in Day

Tomorrow (Tuesday, July 24) DC Vote is organizing a national call-in day for the DC Voting Rights Act. Please take a minute and call 1.866.346.3008 between the hours of 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM EST, and you will be patched through to your Senate office. Tell your Senator to pass the DC House Voting Rights Act (S. 1257) this summer! If you live in DC, you will have the chance to tell the office of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell how much this legislation would mean to you. The call is free and it will make a difference.

Lunchtime Rally

On Wednesday on July 25 from 12:00 - 1:30 PM, DC Vote will be organizing another voting rights rally outside of the Dirksen and Hart Senate Office Buildings. We will meet on the north side of Constitution Avenue between First and Second Streets, NE, for a short rally and then fan out in the Senate office buildings to distribute literature to staffers. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), one of the sponsors of the DC House Voting Rights Act, is a tentative special guest.

Do You Know Anyone in Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Oregon, Pennsylvania, or Virginia?

If so please tell them to go to http://www.FreeAndEqualDC.com and send a message to their Senators. They are the swing states . . .and we need to you to push them the right way!

DC Voting Rights at YearlyKos Convention

On Friday August 3rd I’ll be leading a panel entitled “Taxation Without Representation: Alive and Well in the Nation’s Capital” at the YearlyKos convention in Chicago. I’ll be joined by Martin Austermuhle from Dcist.com, Kesh Ladduwahetty from DC for Democracy, and Danny Rose from DC Vote.

YearlyKos is an annual conference of the top progressive political bloggers in the country. Many of these bloggers are very influential in their state’s political scene, thus having them educated and mobilized on District voting rights is critical. I always say the fight for DC voting rights takes place in every district during every election and these bloggers will be key allies in all those races. You can find out more at: http://www.yearlykosconvention.org.

Please do what you can to help out this week. Thanks for all that you do!