There's a recent (within the last couple of months) proposal to make the District of Columbia's primary the first in the nation. For a while, New Hampshire (whose primary currently has that designation) was saying that it would leapfrog its primary ahead if DC tried to do this, but then NH relented. Supposedly.

It's a gag of course, but a serious one. Most people in the nation aren't aware that the 500,000 people who live and pay taxes in D.C. are unrepresented in Congress. (For a quick overview, see DC Vote.) We do, however, have three Electoral College votes. Having the primary here not only serves to publicize the issue, but possibly even let DC have some small effect on selecting the eventual person who most represents our city.

Regarding the case for winning voting rights for the city, although I believe the quest is Quixotic, I fully support it. In a Republican Congress, there's no way for DC ever to be granted something like this, because it would immediately throw the very delicate balance of power in the Senate off.

I do have a compromise, however. For this, however, you need to pull out your Rand McNally map and look at the shape of the District. The District was formed in 1800 by a cession of land from both Maryland and Virginia. Now, look at that map. Notice the nice straight lines on the northeast, northwest, and southeast of the city, and the jagged line that defines most of the southwest border. That jagged line is called the Potomac River, and when the District was first created, it bisected the full extent of the district, which used to be a perfect square (with ten mile sides), but the portion (the city of Alexandria and Alexandria County, now called Arlington County) that had been originally ceded by Virginia to form the District was returned to Virginia in 1846.

I think it's time to give Maryland back what is theirs. Draw a boundary around the Federal buildings and the National Mall--where people don't actually live, except for the President, and, as we know, he's not really from Washington--and cede the rest back to Maryland, where it because the city of Washington, Maryland. The increase in population to Maryland will likely give it an additional representative to the House and the people of Washington, MD will now vote for, and be represented by, the senators of Maryland. In addition, they will have a strong voice in electing the governor and state legislature of Maryland, who will also then be working to make sure the city of Washington is represented well.

That will never happen, either. But I think it a decent compromise.