November 4 is Election Day. How will the nation’s capital vote? Is DC up for grabs? Is it a battleground state? Can the longtime Washington insider
“Big” John McCain paint W-DC Red? Can he “carry” Washington, DC? Or is W-DC solidify BLUE? Is it a foregone conclusion that Barack Obama will
win the 3 electoral votes of W-DC?
See Note 1.
Who will win the THREE electoral votes of the District of Columbia?
Barack Obama _____
John McCain _____
By what percentage to you believe the WINNER will carry the District?
_____ % of the total votes cast.
W-DC DATA. The District of Columbia is 61 square miles of land, and 6 of water. Total 68. Originally a 10 miles square - 100 square miles -
mentioned in Clause 17, Section 8, Article 1, of the US Constitution:
“ . . over such District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat
of the government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the state in
which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings;” W-DC is 63 miles up the Potomac
River from Point Lookout, MD where it empties into Chesapeake Bay. Washington gets it water from the Potomac, withdrawing a half billion gallons o
day. And dumping its sewage back into the Potomac. The highest elevation in W-DC is in Tenleytown at 429 feet. Not counting the Washington Monument at
555 feet.
W-DC’s population peaked in 1950, at 802,178, but has declined to 588,292 (the 2007 official Census estimate). This is what I call “ethnic
cleansing” but it is more politely labeled Urban Renewal. Rich whites have replaced poor blacks. (A predecessor to the currently similar black out
to white in poor out to rich in ethic cleansing of New Orleans). More than 350,000 people commute into the city every day to work, mostly for the
Federal government.
Demographics. 324,000 residents are black. 206,000 are white. 47,000 are Hispanic. 17,600 are Asian. 8,900 are of mixed
origin. 23,400 are “all others.” Note: people self-define in the US Census.
Washington DC is notorious for its crime rate. It is true the number of murders in 1991 peaked at 482, but in the last year for which numbers are
available - 2006 - the number fell to 169. A condition of relative security if not serenity obtains!
Note 1. Washington, DC has had a nonvoting delegate in the US House of Representatives since 1971. Originally allowed to vote only in committees,
in 1993 the delegate was given the right to vote on the floor but only when the House meets as a Committee of the Whole. (Usually for housekeeping
measures only). The noteworthy Eleanor Holmes Norton has been the W-DC delegate since 1991.
www.washington.org...
Aside: Puerto Rico also has such representation in the US House, but note that Puerto Rico at 4 million population should have 6 delegates. The
United States Virgin Islands, Guam and American Samoa each have a delegate for a total of 5 non voting delegates. Next month, the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands gets it first delegate to make it 6 delegates total. All delegates are accorded full status, receive equal pay, have staffs,
and sit and vote on committees but cannot vote on the floor of the House on the final passage of any bill, except as mentioned above when it is
sitting as a Committee of the Whole.
MY GUESS?
82.1% FOR Obama.
[edit on 10/26/2008 by donwhite]