Dear Friend:
We want to share with you some of the next steps in our campaign to pass the DC Voting Rights Act. But, first let me tell you what we have been doing. Over a year ago, we achieved something incredible together: we secured a majority vote in the House and Senate. We were, unfortunately, three votes shy of preventing a filibuster. To get those three votes, we launched a national educational and advocacy campaign directed at people outside of DC. We traveled to New Hampshire, Montana, Oregon, Washington State, Mississippi and New Orleans to educate people about the filibuster - clocking in more than 25,000 miles and making lots of friends along the way. We generated news reports, constituent letters and calls to the Senate. We advertised heavily on Web sites drawing attention to our animated video and the new song, "Demand the Vote." We traveled to both political conventions, generating more than 40 media stories with our rallies and canvassing efforts. Consequently, millions of people learned about DC's injustice, and more than 10,000 signed our petition and joined our movement. Over time, we made headway in convincing a couple of Senators to reconsider their vote against our bill. But, with Senators Kennedy, Obama and Biden mostly unavailable for votes in the Senate, the goal of securing sixty votes is out of reach this year. We are now focused on getting a bill passed in 2009. To get a jump start, we are organizing a Veterans Day Rally on November 11 from 12 to 1:30 PM in Upper Senate Park. We want to send a message to the new President and Congress that we demand quick action in the new year to end taxation without representation. Thank you so much for your support. Please join us at the Veterans Day Rally. Forward this e-mail to your family and friends and ask them to come out as well. To our friends outside of DC, thanks for your help. We will need you again next year, so stay tuned. Sincerely, Ilir Zherka
Executive Director | 
