Shopping Mall PC in Washington DC Newsletters!: TENAC AND ITS ROLE IN POLITICS, Press Release, November 2008 Shopping Mall PC in Washington DC Business News letters and Political advice Blog!

TENAC ***MEDIA RELEASE***

DC TENANTS ADVOCACY COALITION

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TENAC AND POLITICS!

Answering Critics of Our Political Endorsements

For Immediate Release: November 20, 2008

For Information: Jim McGrath (202) 387-1893

www.wrathofmcgrath.com

Some distinguished members of TENAC and others in the community at large have criticized TENAC's political role in general and our candidate endorsements in particular, and believe we should be "apolitical." We respect but disagree with their views, hence this response. True, for the first time, we endorsed at the national level – enthusiastically endorsing Barack Obama for president, for which we make no apologies. At this time of grave economic peril for our nation, we could do no less.

TENAC deliberately organized as a nonprofit entitled to lobby and make political endorsements. We believe that inability to do so in Washington, DC would relegate TENAC to an ineffective second-class status. TENAC's political role has made us a key player on issues of critical importance. It has given us an effective voice on every key tenant issue in the District, including rent control, affordable housing, tenants' rights, evictions, submetering and building code violations, among many others. We strongly believe this is the way to go. Should we abrogate that responsibility and become a "paper tiger"?