Frank Wolf is known in GOP circles as a champion of unpopular causes. He has a new one: depicting anti-taxer Grover Norquist as an obstacle to fixing the nation's finances.
This won't win Wolf friends among fellow Republicans, many of whom pay little mind to his seemingly Quixotic wish list, which includes controlling the spread of gambling at home and cracking down on slavery overseas.
The Northern Virginian's attack this past week on Norquist, in a speech on the U.S. House floor and a statement in the Congressional Record, is fodder for out-of-power Democrats.
It's a distraction from their lack of traction among voters and a reminder of Republican obeisance to Norquist's non-negotiable demand: a vow to never, ever raise taxes.
It's also a rare glimpse of dissent within the GOP, which — as we've seen in Virginia for over a decade — turns on those who stray from the anti-tax orthodoxy. Ask Panny Rhodes, Jack Rollison, Preston Bryant or Bob Bloxom.
If you're not run off — that is, defeated in a primary, demoted within the state legislature or so disgusted, you quit — you're scared straight. Ask Walter Stosch, John Watkins, Emmett Hanger or Tommy Norment.
Perhaps Wolf's time is coming. The boundaries of his heavily suburban 10th District aren't final because of a redistricting standoff in Richmond. That means lines may be set by a federal judge, a scary prospect for a GOP intent on preserving its 8-3 advantage in the House delegation. Uncertainty over boundaries notwithstanding, Wolf is running next year for the seat he first won in 1980.
His district comfortably fell to Barack Obama in 2008. But Wolf ran ahead of the president by better than 5 percent. The shot at Norquist may be an effort to preserve part of that cushion, recognizing new lines may bring in more enemies than friends.
To balance the federal budget, Wolf — sounding like Democrat Mark Warner — told the House, "Everything must be on the table, and I believe how the 'pledge' is interpreted and enforced by Mr. Norquist is a roadblock to realistically reforming our tax code."
Wolf, who also raised questions about the company Norquist keeps — read: Jack Abramoff — continued, "Have we really reached a point where one person's demand for ideological purity is paralyzing Congress to the point that even a discussion of tax reform is viewed as breaking a no-tax pledge?"
Wolf's apostasy — also, he has never taken the pledge — was tempered by what he didn't say while the television cameras were rolling.
In the Congressional Record, he complained that liberal pressure groups bully Democrats into shielding social programs and that Obama ignored the recommendations of his bipartisan deficit-reduction commission.
Maybe that's enough red meat to keep Wolf from becoming an unpopular cause — among Republicans.
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