D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray declared Sept. 16 “Hayden Panettiere Day” on Friday to commemorate the actress’ work on progressive issues including the D.C. statehood movement. Panettiere, best known for the TV show “Heroes,” said her preferred way for people to celebrate the new symbolic holiday would be wearing pajamas to work. “Can you imagine everyone running around the White House in pajamas?” she laughed. “If they won’t give you the day off, if you have to go to work, at least you can be comfy.” The 22-year-old star said she is “absolutely” comfortable with being the celebrity face of the D.C. statehood movement. “It’s the best looking face we’ve got,” added Sen. Paul Strauss (D.C.). Strauss originally met Panettiere at a campaign event for President Obama and introduced her to the cause she now advocates. “She heard I was a senator and she tried to get me to vote for this bill on protecting [Icelandic] whales,” Strauss said. “I kind of brushed her off, ‘Look, I can’t vote for your bill.’ She got mad, like, ‘Why? What have you got against whales?’ So I explained to her, ‘I can’t, I don’t have a vote.’” Panettiere said she has been involved in environmental causes for seven years, and became more passionate about the political process once she turned 18. Since then, she’s had the opportunity to meet Obama and attend the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Strauss joked that he promised Panettiere he would take up her cause “the day we get that vote” if she helped advocate for D.C. statehood. Panettiere admitted she had not known about the statehood movement until she met Strauss. “People do live in D.C.,” she now tells her Hollywood friends, attempting to raise awareness of the fact that “D.C. doesn’t have a voice.” Panettiere, who lives in Los Angeles but is originally from New York, said her godmother lives near the District in Maryland, so D.C. is “close to home.” However, she doesn’t have a D.C. “Taxation without representation” bumper sticker or license plate on her own car. “My car is leased, so I don’t think they’d be very happy with my bumper sticker,” she admitted. “We don’t need bumper stickers anymore. We can find smarter ways to do it,” Panettiere added, instead suggesting raising awareness through social media, such as Facebook or “Twittering—tweeting—whatever they call it. It’s an amazing way to spread that word.” Panettiere said she doesn’t tweet herself—yet. “I think I’m going to,” she said. “I was kind of trying to be rebellious in the beginning, but we’ve seen how beneficial Twitter can be.” Panettiere also attended a fundraising event Friday evening supporting the D.C. Statehood Fund at Cities Restaurant and Lounge.
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