Denver - The day did not start well for the activists from the District.

    Armed with buttons, bumper stickers and postcards, they took to the downtown streets here to sign up compatriots in their fight to win the District a seat in Congress.

    "Here, have a wooden nickel," said D.C. resident John Capozzi, pressing a coin stamped "Taxation Without Representation" into a woman's hand.

    She looked confused. "Do I need this for the bus?" she asked.

    As the D.C. delegation attends yet another convention hoping to draw attention to the long and so far fruitless cause, members have found that their message of democracy and equality for the colony known as the District of Columbia is as much of an afterthought, curiosity or nuisance as ever.

    During an action-packed week, the D.C. contingent is being drowned out not just by the official convention activities but also by dozens of other protest movements, Hollywood celebrities and advertisers competing for air time.

    When Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) gave an address on voting rights Tuesday, the 19,000-seat Pepsi Center was largely empty. When the delegation rallied Wednesday at the U.S. Mint, the passers-by were outnumbered by security guards.

    The situation has been frustrating for a group that thinks it is on the verge of success. Last year, the House approved a bill that would give a House seat to the majority-Democratic District and one to predominantly Republican Utah. But the bill fell three votes short of reaching the Senate floor.

    Denver resident Joanna Fletchall was riding her bicycle past the mint when she stopped to watch the gathering. Like many who saw the D.C. activists, Fletchall said she had never considered the city's plight.

    "I'm astounded," she said. "It's a city, they're people, they should have a vote." But Fletchall said she wasn't sure how well the message was getting out. A bigger protest involving Code Pink and other national groups had taken place a block away the day before.

    Even D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) appeared preoccupied, arriving 15 minutes late. He is staying at a different hotel from the rest of the city's delegation and spent the morning on a 45-minute bike ride, angering some delegates when he failed to show up at their planning breakfast.

    Fenty marched with the group from the mint, holding a "Taxation Without Representation" banner. But he was not as fiery as Norton, and he uncharacteristically preached patience.

    "The best thing we can do for D.C. voting rights is to get Barack Obama elected," the mayor said, "and get as many seats in the Senate and House as humanly possible. This bill will not be moved until next year, so between the elections and the inaugural, that's our real time to get something done."

    All over Denver, small victories were met with setbacks. After Norton's speech Tuesday, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) drew high marks for her prime-time address - except perhaps from the District's delegates, who said they were stung by her failure to mention the city when she said: "I will always be grateful to everyone from all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the territories who joined our campaign on behalf of all those people left out and left behind by the Bush administration."

    "She left us out on purpose," said Michael D. Brown, the District's shadow senator.

    On the streets, the half-dozen canvassers were having mixed success finding people to sign their voting rights petitions.

    "I just signed up three McCain supporters!" said Janis Davis, second vice president of the National Federation of Democratic Women. She frowned. "But they asked me if I supported the right to bear arms first."

    Making their way along an outdoor pedestrian mall, the group tried to hand out its literature only to be handed fliers from people stumping for other causes, such as Free Speech TV.

    "Speaking of free speech ..." said Eli Zigas, program coordinator for DC Vote, an advocacy group. He sported a beard sans mustache and had dressed up in a tux and top hat to resemble Abraham Lincoln.

    But a man with Free Speech TV wasn't interested in Zigas's voting rights spiel. "Hey, sister, what's up?" the man said with a smile to Ekua Boateng, a DC Vote intern standing next to Zigas. Without saying a word, Boateng slapped a sticker with George Washington's silhouette over the words "Let Washington Vote!" on the man's T-shirt.

    He signed the petition.

    "Some people just say, 'Oh, you're cute, can I take your picture?'" said Zigas, who said he poses for as many as 100 pictures a day as Lincoln. "But the next time people see or hear something about this, they'll be like, 'Oh, yeah, I remember that issue.' It plants a seed, and maybe they'll go looking for more information."

    Finally, the D.C. group came upon the Mexican Grill, where workers were handing out free "Burritos for Obama" T-shirts and asking passers-by to sign forms to be in a commercial.

    The voting rights volunteers stopped and thrust their petitions into the hands of the burrito fans.