I just got back from a fundraiser/party at Del. Margi Vanderhye's house with Paul Begala for Judy Feder. The evening was very successful, a big crowd (75-100 people?) for Judy at Margi's house - Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust, Braddock District Supervisor Sharon Bulova, FCDC chairman Scott Surovell, and many others who want change in the 10th CD.
Margi Vanderhye emphasized the importance of the Feder vs. Wolf race. She noted that Bush's (and the Republicans) popularity has been going down, while Judy's fundraising and support have been going up. That bodes well for November.
Judy Feder talked about building on what she did in 2006 and taking it the rest of the way. She said we need to elect Barack Obama, and when he's president he'll need a member of Congress from the 10th CD that he can work with. She pointed out that Frank Wolf is certainly NOT going to be that member of Congress, whereas she WILL be -- particularly on providing affordable, high-quality health care to all Americans ("We can do that!"). But health care's just the "tip of the iceberg," we also need to fix our economy and restore fiscal responsibility to our nation. We need to bring our troops home from Iraq and invest the resources here in America. We need to turn our attention to the real battle against terrorism - in Afghanistan. We CAN win the election against Frank Wolf, we're coming back twice as strong as last time, raised over $1.25 million and will be able to match Wolf dollar for dollar to communicate with voters this fall. Obama/Feder/Wolf - "what's not to like?" :) Also, this will be the strongest coordinated campaign Virginia's ever seen. People are ready to give Frank Wolf the gold watch at this point, ready to consider Judy as his replacement. The DCCC is looking at this race for the "red to blue" list.
Paul Begala comments on the "flip"
Paul Begala had some fascinating comments. First, he talked about how impressed he was with Judy Feder, everything she had done at Georgetown University, etc. He joked about how glad he was that Dave Hunt now had to pay $4 per gallon to fill his Hummer. In all seriousness, he pointed out that many parts of the 10th CD are hurting economically, and that in bad times, Republicans always try to divide us, to blame "them" (minorities, immigrants, whoever) for our problems. In contrast, Democrats emphasize the ties that bind us together.
According to Begala, Frank Wolf's "master narrative" is that he's a "moderate," but that's complete nonsense. Incredibly, back in the 1990s Wolf suggested that Begala was a spy for the Soviet Union. Of course, there wasn't a Soviet Union anymore at that point, and Begala wasn't a spy, but whatever...
Begala said that it's great Wolf's concerned with religious freedom in China, but here in America he gets a 100% rating from the "extremist," "divisive," "homophobic," "mysogynistic" Family Research Council. In short, Frank Wolf is no moderate ("It just ain't so"), and it's "preposterous" how he is viewed that way (note from Lowell: hello, Washington Post, are you listening?!?). Wolf votes close to 100% of the time with Bush, he does NOT reflect the values of the 10th CD. In contrast, Judy Feder will reflect those values. In terms of electability, look what happened here with Margi, in Loudoun with Webb and Kaine, etc. The more Judy is known, the less they can make her the "other." People want change but there's trepidation.
The election against John McCain is not going to be easy, but Begala thinks the Obama people get that. It's excellent that Obama's going right after McCain's strength, which is smart and what Democrats need to do. Still, Obama's not going to win on foreign policy. Fundamentally, he's going to win on the economy, where McCain keeps proving every day how little he knows. Of course, this election won't be easy, they're going to try to demonize Obama as a "scary Muslim" or something, and we all have to be ready to defend him. That's just what Republicans do.
Today, young people are looking in horror at Bush and saying, "I don't want to be like him." The key for Obama is to talk about the specifics of change -- "change to WHAT" exactly? For instance, it's essential politically to propose specifics on energy like Al Gore did last week, not just offer platitudes and generalities like both campaigns appear to have been doing. Also, Obama needs a specific agenda in the event that he wins the election and becomes president. Finally, Obama and the Democrats have to fight back on the energy issue, because right now the Republicans are winning with their "drill, drill, drill" argument, in the absence of much counterargument from the Democrats.
{Note: For those of you who don't know, I am a paid consultant for Judy Feder. I also supported Judy strongly in 2006 for free, but this time around they've ramped up their netroots effort, which is where I'm helping out.}
I'm glad there was a great crowd, but I look at the numbers of phone calls and door knocks, and even though both might be significantly more than Wolf's people have accomplished, they are still low for a campaign against a long-time incumbent. We need to get more people helping with those tasks, do we not?
Peace.