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Wolf campaigns on his record
After 27 years of representing the 10th District, incumbent Republican Frank Wolf's favorite tactic on the stump, on press calls and everywhere else, is to rattle off a list of his accomplishments.
“You got your pen ready?” said Wolf, last week, as he ran down a list of transportation projects he has secured funding and approvals for, including the widening of Interstate 66 and over $200 million for Dulles rail.
It's a long list, and to Wolf, it's a strong argument for why he should continue in his seat over rivals like recent nemesis Democrat Judy Feder or Vern McKinley, his challenger in the Republican primary June 10. In an election year expected to be rough on Republicans everywhere, Wolf is making no attempt to change his spiel or his style.
“I'm running on what I have done and how I have done it,” Wolf said. For Feder, who has raised just under a million dollars to Wolf's $1,053,701, that's exactly the problem. "[People] don't think he's the one to stand up for change,” Feder said last week. Wolf disputes that characterization.
“I'm working on the biggest change bill in Congress,” said Wolf, referring to his solution to the U.S. debt problem, a bipartisan committee that would use town meeting-style outreach and open discussion as a basis to restructure the way federal dollars are spent.
On the biggest local issue every election, transportation, Wolf is strong, with a litany of successful projects and the credit he's gotten from Gov. Tim Kaine (D) and others for saving the Dulles rail project.
On immigration, Wolf is careful to stay out of hot-button issues like local immigration enforcement, but admits that the problem is a result of a failure at the federal level. His solution is better border security, a problem mostly far away from Virginia's perspective.
On the Iraq war, Wolf who was a leading proponent of the Iraq Study Group, favors “significant draw-downs” at a gradual pace.
In general, Wolf emphasizes his record of getting things done through collaboration.
“That'll always be my way -- you can work together and not be mean and attack,” Wolf said.
Despite that stated preference, Wolf, 69, did seem to be on the attack when asked by The Times if this was his last term.
“Are you kidding? I could outrun you!” he scoffed.
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