On the convention floor, I climbed into the D.C. box to catch up with at-large D.C. Councilman Kwame Brown. (By the way, none of the folks in the photo above are Brown; they are activists here to remind delegates that the District remains disenfranchised.) We spoke about voting rights and urban issues, and why Brown is so excited about Joe Biden.
How do you feel about D.C. voting rights not appearing in the Democratic platform this year? The issue did appear in the 2004 platform.
I’m just disappointed that in D.C., we don’t have our voting rights yet. I’m disappointed that so many Democratic senators did not show up for that vote [on D.C. voting rights last September]. They should be voting in favor of something that their kids have and that they have.
The point is that in the U.S. House and Senate, we do not have a vote. We do not have a vote on key issues. And we have a larger population than some states that are here right now. They have a vote and we don’t. Other people judge whether we send our kids to war, and we don’t.
As a councilperson from D.C. what are the urban issues that you feel should be addressed more often by the Democratic Party?
We've been talking a lot about urban issues at this convention. Health care is an urban issue. Education, economic development, and job training. Vocational education and trade. Those are the things that allow people to pick themselves up by their bootstraps and participate in society. We need to keep jobs within the United States.
I also just think that domestic violence goes unheard sometimes. If you go to urban areas, domestic violence is high on the list. A huge percentage of 911 calls are domestic-violence related. Joe Biden is very encouraging. He’s done so much for the country on this issue. It’s very exciting.
--Dana Goldstein
Previous Party People Q&As:
Tom Sheridan, Lobbyist for liberal non-profits
Janet Napolitano, Governor of Arizona
Bob Shrum, Speech Writer and Consultant
John King, CNN analyst
Bob Springmeyer, candidate for governor of Utah
Bracken Hendricks, clean-energy evangelist
Karen Brown and Bonnie Tierney, Clinton and McCain supporters.
Don Beyer, former Democratic VA gubernatorial candidate
Chris Redfern, Ohio Democratic Party Chair
David Cicilline, Mayor of Providence
Nancy Ruth White, Clinton Delegate
Nancy Keenan, President of NARAL
