Columnist Benjamin Grove: Democrats must look on the bright side

Benjamin Grove

Friday, Nov. 8, 2002 | 3:44 a.m.

FOR DEMOCRATS there was a silver lining in the GOP-trouncing on Election Day. From now on in Washington, there's only one party to blame.

Republicans now control the White House, House and Senate. If something goes awry -- the war, for example, or the economy -- there's only one place to point the finger, Democrats say.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., seized on this Wednesday. He had already heard a few Republicans downplay expectations.

"They have everything now," Reid said. "You can't back-pedal now and say, 'Oh, we may not be able to get everything done.' "

He wouldn't say it, of course, but you can bet Reid intends to spotlight every foible. Expect an increase in the volume of Reid's critique of President Bush's agenda now that it will be getting a lot more attention in the U.S. Senate.

I voted last week here in the District of Columbia. Not that it matters.

It still irks me -- and may surprise you -- that one city in the United States has no voting representation in Congress. It's the capital of America.

Washington, D.C., has no senators and but one member of the House, Democratic Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton. But she can't vote.

A coalition of groups fighting for voting rights called DC Vote is arguing that District residents pay federal taxes, fight in wars and staff much of the nation's massive federal government.

Congress also reviews laws created by the District's locally elected government. So not only do residents have no say in how the United States is governed, we also have a limited say in how our own city is managed.

There are solutions up for discussion. Congress could make the District a state; give the District two senators and appropriate House representation without making it a state; or allow us to vote in Maryland elections.

DC Vote officials ask: Why should U.S. citizens with such a close-up look at democracy in action be mere bystanders to it? Good question.

Just who makes up the newly elected 108th U.S. Congress? Namely:

Then there could be Brown-Rivers (more responsible environmental legislation), Price-Capps (Congress sets a limit on pork projects), and Good-Deal -- let's hope all bills next year sound like that one.