Lofton, a member of the Frederick County Board of Supervisors, denies he pinned Goodman against the wall."I was merely trying to engage him in a dialogue that might disengage him from his disrespectful behavior, as well as try to determine if I could help him get an answer to his questions," Lofton said, adding that he offered to buy the young men lunch or coffee to try and talk to them in a calmer setting.
Now remember, Gary Lofton - the guy who is totally in the Feder staffer's (Matt Kent's) face, yelling and badgering him in a threatening manner - is a sitting, elected official on the Frederick County Board of Supervisors. Can you imagine if a Democratic elected county official, let's just say Gerry Connolly for the heck of it, did this to one of...oh, Keith Fimian's staffers? That's right, the Republicans would be going apes***, blaring this to kingdom come.
In sum, the Feder staffers, Matt Kent and Josh Goodman, were simply trying to get answers from Congressman Wolf following a debate, in a public location. Meanwhile, one Wolf staffer - Ben Dutton - assaulted Matt Kent with a cane, while a close Wolf ally - Frederick County Board of Supervisors member Gary Lofton - held Josh Goodman against the wall and also got in Matt Kent's in an extremely aggressive manner, as you can see in the video above. For more, please see the full video after the "fold," presented simply so that everyone can see that the Feder campaign isn't trying to hide anything here, that all this was sequential, and to give the complete picture of what happened.
The bottom line here: apparently, if you try to ask Frank Wolf questions, his goons verbally and physically assault you while Wolf stands by and does nothing. This is not acceptable behavior for anyone, let alone a member of Congress. After this incident, not to mention his nearly lockstep voting record with George W. Bush, it's time to make Frank Wolf a FORMER Congressman on November 4.
Wolf's goons may have gone too far but where's the issue when Feder's goon went to far with his tactic and provocated the circumstance in the first place?
Just why was that annoying young man, pestering Wolf in a public location, no less, after Feder just had a debate with him? Didn't Feder already raise this matter up in their forum debate, or did she not do a good enough job? And this young man, he's a paid operative or volunteer with the Feder camp right, why didn't he make it clear he is with the Feder camp as opposed to posing as some journalist or an interested citizen?
This is cheesy politics and with you keeping this front and center for more than just a couple of days, I got to tell you, its getting close to being radical, and I'm not going that far with my vote here in Va-10.
By the way, video tracking is pretty much standard operating procedure these days. Jim Webb had a tracker on him from the Allen campaign for most of the campaign, and he never assaulted anyone.
As for asking questions, if they are not answered, then how do we know where someone stands? Are we supposed to take their word for it?
Which tactic are you referring to that Judy Feder's staff performed? Asking questions? Did he say he was anything? He didn't say, nor was he required to say, who he was or who he worked for. This is IN PUBLIC.
Journalists are not the only people who are interested, and they don't own the First Amendment either. I will get in somebody's face if I think it is warranted, which it almost never is. And I have tracked candidates.
Furthermore, why does it matter? Journalist, citizen, Feder campaign staffer? It's not okay to hit any of those people just because they're following you around asking you questions.
There's nothing cheesy about asking the Congressman to answer policy questions.
Furthermore, why hasn't Congressman Wolf come forward and told the public about what he did and didn't see? Why does he keep sending his staff out instead?
He was right there. He saw the whole thing. He needs to come forward and give an explanation.
If they think that Wolf's staff hitting the two shouldn't be a campaign issue that's understandable, but to go all-out and say they "deserved" to be hit or that it's unacceptable behavior to ask a congressman a question is just beyond me.
They all seem to have a vendetta against the Feder campaign. Given that it performed 8 points better than the Democrat who ran in the 10th in 2004, I wouldn't be too quick to criticize. Some are calling Judy a "Washington Insider" (I'd trust a policy professor before a Congressman of 28-years who sides with Bush) and better yet, "shrill." Wow, if my home district goes for Wolf because Judy Feder sounds like a 60-year-old woman (Which she is, as opposed to Wolf, who sounds like a boring version of McCain), I think I'll lose all faith in the Obama/Warner voters of Northern Virginia.
I think Wolf is so agitated because this race is essentially a toss-up, and the Democratic ground game could bring Judy across the line. There is no district in America changing as fast as VA-10, with the possible exception of NV-03.
It is beyond ridiculous to blame the person that got assaulted in this 'hired goonery' by the Wolf camp. Wolf exemplifies all that is wrong with Washington these days -- out of touch, angry at being confronted with his record, unaccountable, and dismissive of actual politics.
I really hope Judy can bring it home. She would be a great legislator and a terrific representative of the people of Virginia.
By the way, I totally agree with you that Judy would make a great legislator and representative. That's why I so strongly supported her in 2006, and why I was proud to become a consultant for her this time around (all that means, by the way, is that I spend a bit more of my time and energy backing the person I would have fought like hell for anyway - bad deal on their part, I guess. Ha! :))