...you see he attributes the same evasiveness to Ms. Feder.

And Fisher is right on - Wolf has been playing this game for years, pretending to be something he's not, evading tough questions, all while voting in near-lockstep with the Republican Party line.  Any comments on that?!?

...when you are already banging that drum?  I hate to diminish your volume.

Of course, the evasiveness that is touched on here-and also attributed to Ms. Feder-was over a question why the Democratic majority Congress doesn't work well together, not the boilerplate rhetoric rolled out above.

Fisher then takes both candidates to task:

"Honestly, if they had come [to this meeting], those spoiled voters -- many of whom whine about how they're not as informed as they'd like to be -- wouldn't have learned much. They'd have heard the same tired talking points that dominate cable news and the presidential race. Even this far from the glare of TV lights, House candidates tend to spew political consultants' poisonous blend of packaged slogans and gotcha attack lines.

Which is too bad, because this is a race involving two candidates who know better. Wolf is not just a self-proclaimed "pothole politician" who can talk like a county supervisor about local road projects and development issues. He's also an idealist who has used his position to fight for human rights in oppressive nations around the globe. And Feder is a former Georgetown University dean who taught public policy and is unusually well versed for someone who has never been in office.

But put them on a stage, even in front of nine people, and they're immediately reduced to the usual blather about low taxes and fighting for the middle class and wholly undefined change."

It doesn't seem like either one of them did a great job at this meeting.

Bwana,you're better than this. Here was the question from the woman:

"What is wrong with Congress that you can't police yourselves?" asked Genie Hopkins. "What is wrong with you people that you do business like this? Why can't you work together?"

The question was not specific to a "Democratic congress." This question was from a frustrated voter who is angry at the way Congress-- Democrats and Republans alike-- have behaved.

Fisher blasted Wolf. He said Judy was using the typical talking points. It's hardly the same thing.

This article directly refutes the whole premise of Frank WOlf as something other than politics as usual.

...one way to read it.  I simply think the fact that Mr. Fisher took time out to spread the net and include Ms. Feder in his jeremiad is worth noting.

I think he was just trying to be even handed, and IMHO he did a fairly good job.

He didn't have to write this piece this way, he was clearly doing an interview with Wolf and decided to take a very different angle after seeing the AARP event.

This was a gaffe by Wolf that resulted in a negative story that would have otherwise been a glowing story about the "last Republican standing" in Northern Virginia. Wolf blew it.

The fact that Fisher chose to tell this story in the way he did speaks volumes.

The fact that he included Feder is a sideshow.

Let's be clear, Wolf supposedly walks on water in the 10th, the fact that Fisher has declared a pox on both their houses is a net negative for Wolf, not Feder.

You're better than this Bwana, stop defending him and have the intellectual honesty to own up to what happened: Frank Wolf blew this interview and it cost him this time.

It's about time someone finally had the nerve to tell the truth about Wolf. Kudos to Fisher.

Fisher enlightens us all this afternoon with what he really thinks:

Here's a list of races where surprise results seem at least somewhat possible--these will get you started, but feel free to add your own:

Virginia president: Would a McCain victory in the Old Dominion qualify as an upset at this point?

Virginia House races: 10th District: Judy Feder (D) over incumbent Frank Wolf (R).

11th District: Keith Fimian (R) over Gerry Connolly (D).

Maryland House races: 1st District: Frank Kratovil (D) over Andy Harris (R).

6th District: Jennifer Dougherty (D) over incumbent Roscoe Bartlett (R).

D.C. Council at large seat: Write-in Carol Schwartz (R) or Patrick Mara (R) over Michael Brown (ind.)

whether either did a "great job at this meeting," we're talking about Marc Fisher's article, which spent 99% of the time bashing Frank Wolf.  Care to address what Marc Fisher had to say?

...that there is less to defend here than you folks make it out to be, that there is less to this than you all seem to think there is.

"Just Saying" says Congressman Wolf blew the interview.  I beg to differ.  It appears that the interview was fine, but for whatever reason he did not answer the constituent question with the same clarity and Fisher chose to frame his on that matter.  If the interview was the disaster some paint it as, that would be the lead to the story.

Clearly Fisher is generally unhappy with how both candidates are responding to questions.  The opening to the article, the description of how few people attended the forum, the description of how both candidates should know better...that is a complaint that cuts both ways.  Congressman Wolf's less than in-depth reply just gives Fisher the hook for his story.

As far as how much it cost him...I doubt it costs him as much as you think.  I know you and other readers think it some type of devastating indictment...and that is your opionion.

I just don't think it will amount to much.  Just call it a hunch.

This is silly. But I'll play along, the interview was blown simply because it led to a negative story.

Fine, I'll be more precise, he blew the answer to the question at the AARP event not the interview itself.

Regardless, this was the second mis-step by Wolf in a week. Last week he completely flubbed his answer on health care and as since been battling to prove he doesn't really support the mccain health care tax (which he clearly does, based on his own words).

It cost him in negative press. how much did it cost him? Who knows, but it's certainly not how they intended for this to go.

That's bullshit Bwana and you know it.

This is exactly what he had to say about Feder:

Honestly, if they had come, those spoiled voters -- many of whom whine about how they're not as informed as they'd like to be -- wouldn't have learned much. They'd have heard the same tired talking points that dominate cable news and the presidential race. Even this far from the glare of TV lights, House candidates tend to spew political consultants' poisonous blend of packaged slogans and gotcha attack lines.

Which is too bad, because this is a race involving two candidates who know better. Wolf is not just a self-proclaimed "pothole politician" who can talk like a county supervisor about local road projects and development issues. He's also an idealist who has used his position to fight for human rights in oppressive nations around the globe. And Feder is a former Georgetown University dean who taught public policy and is unusually well versed for someone who has never been in office.

But put them on a stage, even in front of nine people, and they're immediately reduced to the usual blather about low taxes and fighting for the middle class and wholly undefined change.

The inability to give a straight answer? He lays that solely at the feet of Wolf:

And I'd love to tell you that Wolf embraced the truth behind Hopkins's plaint, leveled with his constituents about the problems we face and spelled out tough solutions involving painful public sacrifice.

But that's not what happened when Wolf -- a Republican who represents parts of Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, Fauquier and three more Northern Virginia counties -- appeared this week at a forum sponsored by the AARP.

For starters, the congressman told Hopkins to take her question to the Democratic leader of the Senate, Harry Reid. "You'll have to ask the leadership, ma'am," he said. "I have a record of honesty and integrity."

I caught up to Hopkins later. "He was evasive," she said of Wolf's response. "I just wanted to know why the institution is so paralyzed, why they're so damn partisan. That's what makes politics so distasteful. All I wanted to hear was if he agreed and why it is that way."

Moreover, he doesn't just say Wolf was evasive, he goes out of his way to make it clear that Wolf had answered the questions differently just an hour prior:

Curiously, just an hour before taking that stage, Wolf had sat down with me on a bench outside Leesburg Town Hall and opened up about exactly Genie Hopkins's concern: "I do see a more partisan, meaner environment," he said, looking back over 14 terms in office. "Congress is dysfunctional, and part of it is that the members don't live here anymore. They come to town on Monday and leave Thursday. Very few have families here anymore. The members often don't know each other. It's all red or blue."

Regardless, Wolf stakes his entire record on the notion that he's above politicking and above the partisan divide. Marc Fisher made his point: Wolf is nothing more than a politician like every other politician.

This is a devastating article for them. Plain and simple.

...the column focused on Wolf, no doubt about it.

But I suggest that the fact he didn't drop into attack mode as other candidates would do and start blasting the other party for not fostering a bi-partisan atmosphere suggests shows he farther above the partisan divide than many give him credit for.

The atmosphere in Congress is in great part determined by the leadership of both parties, and the tone set by both Democrat and GOP leadership over the last 25 years (since the Jim Wright speakership) has not really fostered a more cozy atmosphere.  It is the way things are, and it is not unreasonable to say so.

As for it being devastating...hardly.

Actually, Fisher says quite clearly that he went after Harry Reid.

And have you seen the video footage from the PWC debate? Frank Wolf blames Barney Frank, Chris Dodd and ACORN for the economic mess we're in. Yes, that's right, he brought up ACORN.

He also flatly refused to answer a question about whether he supports a constituional ban on abortion.

The idea that Frank Wolf is "above the partisan divide" is pure crap...always has been.

He's actually one of the more shrewd politicians I've come across in a long time. He's almost always hedging.