Washington, DC -- President Bush will unveil a plan for merging most of Washington DC in to Maryland later this month. The plan has the approval of Maryland Governor Ehlich and discussions are underway with top District officials. Should the plan be passed by this session of Congress -- as the Bush team is aiming for -- it would result in a net gain of two electoral college votes for the Republicans. Many top political pollsters believe that two electoral college votes could swing the Presidency this fall.
Maryland currently has ten electoral college votes and DC three, although the District's 570,000 residents have no representation in Congress. That would also change. Maryland would have eleven electoral votes, DC none but its residents would have their own House Representative and Maryland's Senators.
Washington, DC would remain in name only and would cover the Mall, Congress, the White House and most federal buildings. Bush spokesman James Tranroy said "The President feels this is a way of returning Maryland to its traditional roots." Officials for the Kerry campaign indicated they felt the President was interested in the electoral college gains and not democracy for the residents of Washington, DC. Several key Republican pollsters agree off the record.
Readers should remember this was written on April 1, 2004 and is an April fools joke. There is about as much chance of Bush caring about democracy for DC residents as there is of me winning the lottery. And I didn't even buy a ticket.
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