Actually, Frank Wolf Has Been Hard Right at Least Since the Mid 1990s

I keep hearing people talking about how Barbara Comstock is supposedly “no Frank Wolf,” the implication being that Wolf has been some sort of moderate and that Comstock is a right-wing nutjob. Well, no doubt “Transvaginal Ultrasound” Comstock’s a right-wing nutjob, but what about Wolf? Let’s go to Project Vote Smart and find out. (# of asterisks indicate level of right-wing nuttiness, on a 1-4 scale)

****Abortion Rights: Back in 1996, NARAL Pro-Choice America gave Wolf a big fat ZERO rating, while the anti-choice National Right to Life Committee gave him a 100%. And in 2013? Same ratings. That’s right, Wolf was virulently anti-choice in 1996, and he still is today. No change.

****Reproductive health and freedom: As of early 2014, Planned Parenthood Action Fund rated Wolf a ZERO, reflecting his past 6 years’ voting record. And no, this isn’t an aberration: from 1995 to 1998, Wolf also received a ZERO from Planned Parenthood.

****LGBT Equality: In 1995/96, the pro-LGBT equality group Human Rights Campaign gave Wolf a ZERO rating. Wolf continued to get ZERO ratings from HRC in almost every year since then, with the exception of a pathetic 9% in 1999 and an awful 15% in 2011-2012.

***Environment: The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) gave Wolf a pathetic 28% lifetime score in 2013.

****Civil Liberties: Back in 1996 and 1997, the ACLU gave Wolf ratings of 12% and ZERO. In 2014? Nothing’s changed, Wolf’s still a big fat ZERO on civil liberties.

***Civil Rights: Back in 1995-1995, the NAACP gave Wolf a pitiful 18% rating on civil rights. In 2011, he got a 10%, rocketing up to 40% (wow) in 2014.

***Immigration: Wolf got a 100% rating in 2014 from the virulently anti-immigrant “Federation for American Immigration Reform,” which the Southern Poverty Law Center labed a “hate group” in 2007. Wolf did manage to get a modest 59% rating in 2014 from the Hispanic Federation, LCLAA, LULAC, Mi Familia Vota, NCLR, and Voto Latino – National Immigration Scorecard.

****Education: The National Education Association gave Wolf a godawful 5% rating in 1996, and a ZERO in 2013. The more things change…

***Labor: Wolf’s been bad for working people pretty much forever, with a 25% rating in 1996 and a 33% rating in 2013.

Bottom line: In no way, shape or form has Frank Wolf ever been a moderate. To the contrary, he was hard right wing in the 1990s, and he’s hard right wing today. He’s also a bit of a conspiracy theory nutjob, obsessed with Benghazeeeeeeee, Islam, gay marriage’s “threat” to our culture, and the supposed “terrorists crossing the border”. So please, spare us with the “Barbara Comstock’s no Frank Wolf.” To the contrary, Comstock will be as far right as Wolf, just without the seniority.