Who would have thought that by the time the DC Primary rolled around, that we’d still be lacking a clear front-runner? Turnout in almost every state that has held a primary or caucus to date has been at a historic high, and I hope that the District (and our neighbors Maryland and Virginia) will follow suit. In the 2004 non-binding Presidential Preference primary, just 16% of Democrats voted. No matter how committed we are to a party, and no matter our willingness to work on behalf of a party’s nominee in the general election, primaries do matter. And while Democrats can rightfully say that both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are fine candidates, one of them is clearly better — depending on what you value.

At DC for Democracy, we value nothing more than civic engagement on the part of ordinary people, especially people who have never been involved in political activism. This was the fuel behind the Howard Dean campaign, and it is an ever-renewable energy source. It has reached a new fervor this year in the Obama campaign. Check out Laura Flanders’ Nation article “The Grassroots Reseeded” to find out why. For me, this is the most compelling reason to support Senator Obama, because nothing less than a mass mobilization of civic energy can remake our politics and our world. It is frankly more important than the candidates’ policy positions (which are quite similar, especially on domestic issues), because only transformative politics can expand the policy options available to us.

THIS TUESDAY, YOUR VOTE IS YOUR VOICE

Polls in the District open at 7AM and close at 8PM. If you are not sure where to vote, please click here to find out. If you cannot vote on Tuesday, you can still vote early in person at the DC Board of Elections and Ethics at 441 4th Street, NW, Suite 250 North side of the building (Judiciary Square metro). DC voters can only vote in the primary of the party of their registration, i.e. Democrats can vote in the Democratic primary, Republicans in the Republican primary.