In the fall of 2006, residents in Virginia’s 10th congressional district opened to their doors to find an interesting surprise: Alice Rivlin was on their doorstoop. The first director of the Congressional Budget Office and former member of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve wasn’t asking for directions — she was asking for them to help elect friend and Georgetown University colleague Judy Feder.

As Feder, former dean of Georgetown’s Public Policy Institute, retells the story, last Wednesday in the lounge at the Key Bridge Marriott, it becomes clear that the university right across the river has a special place in her congressional campaign to oust 27-year incumbent Frank Wolf (R-Va., LAW ’65). She may have lost the race in 2006 (she was defeated 57 percent to 41 percent), but she hasn’t lost her drive and ambition to help turn Virginia blue, this time looking to benefit from the excitement of presidential election as well.

A short, lively woman with gray hair and stylish spectacles, Feder exudes a confidence that has made her a popular presence with the Georgetown community. She has been connected with Georgetown since 1984, having previously worked at left-leaning think tank Brookings Institute. She came to the Hilltop as an expert on healthcare to be the co-director of the Center for Health Policy Studies in the School of Medicine.

And perhaps Georgetown has played no greater role in Virginia congressional politics than this year, as former dean takes on former student in a district that has become as diverse as the Hilltop itself.

While Georgetown is riddled with professors who come from the political establishment, very few ever vie to get back into the race. But after nine years shaping policy and academia as dean of GPPI, Feder is looking to add congresswoman to her long resume.

“My capacity to make a difference has shifted elsewhere,” she says.

“As time has passed, it has become ever-clearer that the direction of this country is wrong,” she says, smile fading from her face. “I am dedicated to advancing the issues concerning the citizens of the 10th district.”

She says that those issues include rising gas prices, the war in Iraq and, perhaps most importantly, affordable healthcare for her constituents.

Her focus on healthcare seems only appropriate for someone who has spent much of her career wrestling with Medicare and shaping the ultimately failed Clinton health care initiatives of 1993 and 1994. After all, it is her history with health policy that brought her into the spotlight and has largely influenced her political ambitions.

From her office in Georgetown, she served as President Bill Clinton’s health spokesperson. She was soon appointed to the Department of Health and Human Services, responsible for Medicaid Reform among other iniatives, before returning full-time in 1995 and becoming dean of GPPI in 1999. She resigned from her post in 2007 to pursue her run while remaining part of the faculty and is currently on leave for the fall semester.

A New Blue Chapter

Looking back to 2006, Feder says a lot of things have changed.

“Warner had lost our district by nine points in ’01, Kaine won it by four points in ’05,” she says of the previous two gubernatorial races in the state that both went to the Democrats.

Virginia’s diverse 10th congressional district, home of the sprawling D.C. suburbs of McLean as well as the historic Civil War town of Manassas, known for the Battle of Bull Run, has seen a demographic shift that has largely benefited the Democratic Party.

And the changing demographics have Democrats betting that they grab an upset.

“She’s on the short list for the Democrats for likely winning races,” Rivlin said. “She stands a better chance than she did two years ago.”

Feder says she has learned a lot over the last two years and insists that while she “got in to win” in 2006, she knew it wasn’t going to be an easy task.

“It’s a district where voters like to know their candidates, and I got in late,” she says. “But I gave Mr. Wolf the toughest race he’s had in 24 years. It takes a while.”

This time around, Feder no doubt plans to benefit from the growing frustration with national Republican leadership. Current polls have Virginia as a battleground state for the presidency, with Senate candidate Mark Warner, a former governor of the state, with a comfortable margin over his Republican challenger, former Governor Jim Gilmore. (The latest Rasmussen poll last week has a margin of 27 points.) Democratic leaders have kept a close eye on Feder’s race, running a joint campaign of “Obama-Warner-Feder,” and pumping a large amount of money into the district.

In August, Feder was added to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s Red to Blue Program, which gives additional funding to candidates they feel have a competitive shot at defeating Republican incumbents.

According to last political expense disclosures on June 30, Wolf had roughly a $20,000 cash advantage over Feder, leading $849,391 to $812,122. The Red to Blue program gives an average of $404,400 per campaign, according to a press release from the Feder campaign.

“With the change that’s going on in Virginia, we’ve got a good shot,” she says. “Nobody has ever come back a second time against Mr. Wolf.”

The Gift of Georgetown’s Giving

Feder’s rise to the Democratic candidate in Virginia’s 10th district reads very much like a who’s who of Democrats on the Hilltop.

Rivlin’s presence on the campaign trail is just one of the many examples of Feder’s Democratic networking that has taken place at Georgetown and includes Democratic stars such as former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Donna Brazile, party consultant and superdelegate, and Bill Clinton’s campaign manager, Paul Begala.

“I’m in touch on a pretty daily basis,” she says, referring to her colleagues.
“Madeleine [Albright] threw a fundraiser for me in ’06, she is a supporter in ’08, and she has a house in my district,” Feder says, “although I believe that, unfortunately, she votes in D.C.”

Indeed, Feder says running for office is very much like the advice she gives her students for launching their own careers: “It’s the same type of exploration, networking, looking for support and not being afraid to ask for it. … There are Georgetown connections that somewhat made [the run] possible.”

Feder recalls that after the encouragement of her son to run for Congress, it was the power players at Georgetown that got her foot in the door. Feder points to Daschle’s excitement about her intention of running and his willingness to connect her with Steve Hildebrand, who ran Daschle’s campaign and is now Obama’s deputy campaign manager.

“I’m also very pleased that Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) thought he recruited me, because another faculty member, Paul Begala, put me in touch with Rahm,” she says of then-chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Rahm was very excited that I wanted to run.”

Feder’s support and networking comes not only in terms of advice, but monetary resources as well.

According to OpenSecrets.org, a political watchdog group, Georgetown University donors have contributed a great deal to Feder’s 2008 campaign, amounting to roughly $40,085. Some of the most notable donations this election cycle include Albright’s $1,000 contribution this June, Begala’s maximum donation of $2,300 and Georgetown Law Assistant Dean Nancy Cantalupo’s and GPPI colleague Sheila Burke’s gifts of $1,000 each.

Less-sizable donations have come from other well-known personalities on campus, including Robert Manuel, dean of the school of continuing studies, Thomas Banchoff, director of the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, Georgetown Main Campus Chief Financial Officer Darryl Christmon and Elizabeth Andretta, associate dean of the School of Foreign Service.

By comparison, no donor affliated with Georgetown as a professor or administrator has given to Wolf, according to the Web site.

It is Feder’s pool of affluent Georgetown donors that has drawn criticism from her opponent. “Her campaign is entirely financed by people who live outside the 10th district of Virginia,” Dan Scandling, campaign spokesperson for Wolf, said.

Scandling added that Wolf was not specifically seeking support from his alma mater and was focused on reaching out to people who can cast a ballot in the Virginia election.

But besides a large fundraising effort from faculty and staff at Georgetown, Feder has also managed to build a close relationship with her students, who have actively contributed their time and energy in her district.

According to Chris Dodge (SFS ’10), the College Democrats have been helping Feder since the 2006 election, when members phonebanked and canvassed during her inaugural run for office.

“Last Saturday, 36 of our members went to Virginia’s 10th Congressional District to canvass for Judy,” Dodge said. “The College Democrats will be canvassing in Virginia every Saturday up until the election, including several more visits to Judy’s district.”

The upcoming election is one that will pit Hoya against Hoya for the second time in a row. By the summer after her first attempt to gain the seat long held by Wolf in November 2006, Feder was ready to throw her hat in the race again. Whatever the result of November’s election, she has no plan of leaving Georgetown any time soon. She points to notable Georgetown law professor and D.C. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton as an example of balancing life on the Hill with life on the Hilltop.

“You can take the girl out of Georgetown, but you can’t take Georgetown out of the girl,” Feder says with a grin. “We’ll talk in November.”

— Hoya Staff Writer Laura McKenzie contributed to this report.