Upcoming Events for Judy Feder

Canvass Kickoff 2008!
Mar 1 2008 - 1:00pm

Help us gear up the grassroots by joining us for our inaugural canvass of 2008! We'll be going door to door to gather signatures to get Judy on the ballot.

For more information call Sean at 703-286-9208 or click here to RSVP.
Judy's House
1514 Hardwood Lane
McLean, VA, 22101

Great Falls Brunch Fundraiser
Mar 2 2008 - 12:00pm

Join Great Falls area supporters of Judy Feder for brunch on March 2nd at 12pm.

Click Here to RSVP
10779 Riverscape Run
Great Falls, VA, 22066

Herndon Meet and Greet
Mar 9 2008 - 4:00pm

Join Herndon residents, and supporters of Judy Feder on March 9th. Stop by anytime between 4 and 6pm for food, refreshments and the opportunity to meet the next Congresswoman for the 10th District! Judy wants to know what kind of change you want to see in Washington.

Click here to RSVP or call Sean at 703-286-9208

Contributions appreciated but not required!
13158 Diamond Mill Drive
Herndon, VA, 20170

Reception with U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse
Mar 12 2008 - 7:00pm

Join environmental champion, health care reform advocate, and U.S. Senator, Sheldon Whitehouse at a fundraising reception in honor of Judy Feder.

Click here for tickets or call Julia at 703-286-9208 for more information.
6028 Copely Lane
McLean, VA, 22101

Frank Wolf Must Really Hate Clean, Renewable Energy

Another day, another vote by Frank Wolf against clean, renewable energy. This time, it was the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2008, which passed the House yesterday by a 236-182 margin. That "ayes" included 17 Republicans, including moderates like Michael Castle of Delaware.

But not Frank Wolf. Sadly, we shouldn't be surprised, given that Wolf voted in December 2007 against the CLEAN (Creating Long-Term Energy Alternatives for the Nation) Act. It also shouldn't be surprising given Wolf's dismal ratings by the League of Conservation Voters -- a 27% average over the past 5 years. The question is, why does Frank Wolf hate clean, renewable energy so much?

Feder February Newsletter

From the Feder for Congress campaign...it's cold outside but things are starting to heat up!

Campaign News Update 2/27/08

Virginians Want Change
Two weeks ago 10th District voters and Virginians from across the Commonwealth showed up to the polls in record numbers. Their enthusiasm demonstrated a hunger for real change in Washington. Judy spent February 12th traveling the 10th District and talking to some of our neighbors at the polls.

Click here to check out our latest installment of JudyTV and see what they had to say.

On primary day we heard from voters from across the District. Now we want to hear from you! Post a video on YouTube and send us the link or click here to send us an email to let us know what you want to see from your next Member of Congress.

Canvassing!
With warm weather on the horizon it's time to gear up the grassroots and take Judy's message to the voters of the 10th District. Join us on Saturday March 1st for our first canvass of 2008! We'll be meeting at Judy's house at 1:00pm - 1514 Hardwood Lane, McLean, VA 22101.

Click here to volunteer or call Sean at 703-286-9208.

CQ Ranks Judy in the Top 10
That's right, thanks to your help, Congressional Quarterly ranked Judy the 9th best funded challenger in the entire country! Your financial support is critical to waging the aggressive campaign it will take to unseat a longtime incumbent. Thanks so much for your support!

You can see the CQ article here. Judy's strong campaign and the CQ ranking has also caught the attention of the Washington Post and other national media outlets.

Help us keep our incredible momentum going by contributing today!

Upcoming Events
Election season is upon us and we have a full schedule of exciting events in the weeks and months ahead. Visit the upcoming events section of our website to find the next event near you!

Petition Update
Thanks to everyone who helped gather signatures at the polls on February 12th. Dozens of volunteers braved the cold to put us well on our way to the 1,000 signatures required to get Judy on the ballot. Look for us at your door and at shopping centers near you as we finish the job in the weeks ahead. Special thanks to Judy supporter LaVerne Taylor, former auditor of Missoula county Montanta for her hard work.


Keep the momentum going. Contribute Today!

10th CD Republicans in Turmoil. Where's Wolf?

It will be very interesting to see how this affects elections in the 10th CD this November.

A former 27th District Republican state Senate candidate has fired off the first volley in his defense in court filings, and he's aiming at some big targets.

Mark Tate, who was indicted in January on nine counts of election fraud in connection with his campaign finance filings, has asked a Loudoun County Circuit Court for permission to subpoena state Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel and Loudoun County Commonwealth's Attorney Jim Plowman.

Also, see here for more background on this scandal:

...thanks to court documents we learn that Kenney admits the entire timeline, and that he learned his information from Fauquier Republican Chairman Whitson Robinson. This also seems to solve a lot of mysteries about how this leaked out. Robinson was a supporter of Vogel's and the prosecutor who indicted Tate, Loudoun's Jim Plowman, was also a supporter of Vogel's. What is their tie besides both being Republicans in the district supporting Tate's opponent? Robinson's Fauquier Republican Vice Chairman is James Fisher- is also Plowman's Chief Deputy in the Loudoun's prosecutors office!

The taint here is getting closer to Senator Jill Holtzman Vogel as every person involved in leaking this indictment of her opponent was a supporter of hers. WHEN WILL THE SENATE INVESTIGATE?

By the way, the 27th state Senate district contains precincts in Clarke County, Fauquier County, Frederick County, Loudoun County, and Winchester County. Some of the most Republican parts of the 10th CD, in other words. Also, let's not forget that Frank Wolf was a big supporter of Jill Holtzman Vogel. When can we expect a comment from Frank Wolf on this growing scandal?

Fascinating Analysis by Frank Wolf

Here's Frank Wolf, explaining why he thinks he'll win again this year:

"I know the people in the district know what I have done," said Wolf, who believes the higher voter turnout expected because of this year's presidential election can only work in his favor, despite indications that Virgina is leaning increasingly towards the Democratic party.

"Last year was one of the worst years for the Republican party, and we won with a large number of votes," said Wolf, who beat Democratic challenger Judy Feder by almost 40,000 votes in 2006.

Yes, that's some seriously fascinating analysis right there, especially considering this:

The turnout for yesterday's Democratic primary was heavy, and that bodes very well for Democrats like Judy Feder this fall. Overall, according to the State Board of Elections, 98,504 of 460,158 active voters (21.40%) turned out on the Democratic side [in the 10th CD], double the 49,691 voters (10.79% of active voters) on the Republican side.

That's twice as many Democrats than Republicans who voted on February 12 in the 10th CD. Somehow, Frank Wolf might believe this works to his advantage. Maybe none of us should disabuse him of this notion? Yeah, that's it...great thinking, Frank!

P.S. What HAS Frank Wolf done for the 10th CD lately? Oh, maybe Wolf's talking about that sparling new Metro to Dulles project he's been working on for decades now...uh, er, d'oh!

Frank Finds Religion on Environment, Still Nearly Fails

When it comes to Rep. Frank Wolf's report card on environmental issues, there's good news and bad news.

The good news - He got his highest score in years!

The bad news - He still only managed a D-:

I wonder why Frank is suddenly so eager to look greener? Is he finally feeling the heat from his moderate constituents and a strong challenger in Judy Feder?

Even with his higher overall score, some of Frank's wrong votes were truly awful. He voted against the final energy bill that raised fuel economy standards - a common-sense solution if there ever was one. He voted in favor of offshore oil drilling.

But hey, at least he's consistent - always voting on the side of Big Oil!

Watch Out Drake, Goode, and Wolf: "Obamania" Is Coming to Git Ya!

In today's Washington Post, Tim Craig has an article entitled, "Democratic Duel Complicates Life Further Down the Ticket". The central thesis is that if Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee this fall, it could spell trouble for several, otherwise "favored" Republican congressional incumbents.

But if what has been described by some as "Obamania" persists into the fall, there are at least three GOP congressional incumbents who shouldn't take anything for granted.

Reps. Thelma A. Drake, Virgil H. Goode Jr. and Frank R. Wolf are favored to win reelection, considering that Republicans drew their district boundary lines.

Each of those districts, however, could be susceptible to an uptick in Democratic turnout if Obama is at the top of the ticket.

On Virgil Goode, the article notes an upsurge in turnout for Barack Obama in Charlottesville, as well as in places like Danville, which is 45% African American. Overall, Goode's 5th district is 24% African American. With Barack Obama as the Demoratic nominee, African American turnout should be huge. In other words, watch out Virgil Goode and go Tom Perriello!

In the 2nd CD, Craig points to "traditionally conservative Virginia Beach, [where] 51,000 voted in the Democratic primary this year, compared with 30,000 in the GOP primary, suggesting more Democratic votes could be there than previously thought." The main challenge is for Democratic challenger Glenn Nye to raise a lot of money fast, and that won't be easy. Still, the guy Craig calls "Phil Kellman" (uh, that would be "Kellam") came close to defeating Drake in 2006 despite running a less-than-optimal race. We'll see.

Finally, on Frank Wolf, Craig writes that the 10th district "includes a lot of young professionals in western Fairfax and Loudoun counties, which could dilute the solid GOP advantage in the rest of the district." With Obama motivating these young professionals to vote Democratic, while simultaneously not motivating Republicans to vote against him, this could give a boost to Judy Feder as she tries for the second time to unseat Wolf.

Is this too optimistic? Not according to J. Brad Coker, managing director of Mason-Dixon Polling and Research, who says that Obama at the top of the ticket should "be a reason for Republicans all the way down the ticket to be worried."

The bottom line is this: Barack Obama swept Virginia on February 12, turning out huge numbers of people, including ones who had never voted before. If this excitement continues through November, the effects of "Obamania" on Democrats running "downballot" could be highly positive, especially combined with the presence of Mark Warner -- Virginia's most popular politician -- on the ballot as well.

Step #1, of course, is for Barack Obama to clinch the Democratic nomination for President, which he hopefully will do in 1 1/2 weeks. Then, the pieces start falling into place quite nicely for people like Tom Perriello, Judy Feder, Glenn Nye, and possibly others as well. (Note: I'm assuming a Democratic pickup in the 11th CD regardless of who the Democratic presidential nominee is)

Does Frank Wolf Agree with Joe May?

I wonder if Frank Wolf agrees with Del. Joe May (R-Loudoun) on this:

One small paragraph in a current version of the proposed state budget could force Virginia to effectively reset the floundering Dulles rail project.

An amendment to the proposed House of Delegates 2008 budget, which passed the House Appropriations Committee Sunday, directs Secretary of Transportation Pierce Homer to "resolicit competitive proposals" for the rail project.

According to amendment author Del. Joe May (R-Loudoun), reworking the stalled project would get it moving again.

Given that Wolf has blocked all attempts to open this enormous project up to competitive bidding in order to get the best possible value for the taxpayer, I doubt he supports Del. May on this one. Still, if Wolf is such a "leader" on rail to Dulles, you'd think he would at least consider it.

P.S. I don't recommend holding your breath on this one.

Wolf Uses Iraq Study Group for Partisan Political Purposes

This story offers insight into what makes Frank Wolf really tick. First, we have a dash of incompetence, just as we see on other important matters like the (crucial but nearly dead) Metro to Dulles project:

Two House Republicans, Reps. Frank Wolf (Va.) and Christopher Shays (Conn.), took the lead in placing a little-noticed provision in the fiscal 2008 omnibus spending bill calling for the rebirth of the Iraq Study Group. The problem is no one from Congress bothered telling members of the Iraq Study Group, raising questions over how much support the proposal has among congressional leaders.

[...]

“The puzzle is that you’ve got the money and the joint explanation and nothing’s happened,” said Hamilton, a former House Democrat, referring to the instructions Congress appended to the spending bill asking for the group to be reconstituted.

“There’s been no contact of me by anyone associated with the Congress that I have not initiated myself,” said Hamilton. “That’s my puzzle. Nobody’s been in touch with me.”

Brilliant, eh? Heckuva job by Frank Wolf. But wait, it gets worse!

Hamilton said he wants the study group to issue its recommendations after the election to spare its work from becoming overly politicized.

[...]

Wolf said in an interview that he believed a second investigation would validate the Bush administration’s claims that the situation in Iraq has improved dramatically. He also said that he has pressed for the group to publish its findings well before the election, which could help diminish voters’ desire to see the withdrawal of U.S. forces. That would help the likely Republican nominee, McCain, who supports maintaining a strong troop presence.

“They would validate there’s been tremendous improvement,” said Wolf, predicting what the study group would conclude.

Well, well, well...Frank Wolf, using the Iraq Study Group for blatantly partisan political purposes. Gee, what happened to Wolf's media-propulgated image as "moderate" and not particularly partisan? Looks like it has about as much validity as anything else Wolf promises. Not much, in other words.

Washington Post: "Feder's Fat Wallet"

The Washington Post has picked up on the story of Judy Feder making the CQ Politics "top 10 list of best-funded, opposite party challengers." As the Post points out:

Feder is known for her fund-raising abilities. In 2006, she amassed more than $1.5 million in her first match-up against the popular 14-term incumbent, who raised just over $1.7 million.

Obviously, money isn't everything in politics, but it's an important indication of support. It's actually quite simple: all else being equal, you'd rather have more money than less.

By the way, the fact that Wolf supporters feel the need to constantly try and denigrate Feder's amazing fundraising (by claiming it's from -- GASP! -- "liberals") speaks volumes. I mean, if they weren't worried about Feder, why would they even take the time to apply their usual Karl Rove-style tactics on her? I mean, do we spend all day discussing Frank Wolf's contributions from big corporations, lobbyists, special interests, and right-wing groups? Hmmmm...now there's a thought! Ha.