A Low-Tech Retort to Modern Politicking

Experts say the tactic is becoming more aggressive. Robert Holsworth, a political scientist from Virginia Commonwealth University, said the trackers sometimes try to incite candidates into saying or doing something embarrassing.

"It's sort of this new level of campaigning, to see how they respond to the bait," Holsworth said. "Some candidates are able to maintain equanimity or handle it with aplomb and wit. Other candidates [however] are unprepared and lash out."

Kent said he was not trying to catch Wolf in an indiscreet moment. Rather, he said, he was trying to nail him down on crucial issues, particularly health care.

The candidates sparred recently after Wolf spoke favorably during a debate about Sen. John McCain's proposal to give people a $5,000 tax credit to help them pay for medical insurance. His campaign later said that he does not endorse the GOP presidential candidate's plan, and Feder has accused him of backtracking.

Kent said he also has asked Wolf about recent comments by a McCain staffer who made a distinction between Northern Virginia and "the real Virginia," and a remark by McCain's brother Joe McCain in which he called Alexandria and Arlington County "communist country." The comment by Joe McCain, coincidentally, was publicized by a Democratic tracker.

"In the middle of my question, I get smacked or whacked or hit in the hand with a cane," Kent said. "And again, a second time in quick succession, like, whack-whack. He was trying to smack the camera out of my hand, as far as I could tell."

He said Dutton struck him again later with his hand. A second jerking of the camera later in the video could corroborate that statement, though Scandling said Dutton only hit Kent once.

The two Feder staffers approached Wolf again Saturday at an event in McLean. The plan had been for them to question him at additional events until the election, though a Feder spokeswoman said the campaign might not follow through.

Scandling said Dutton was worried for the safety of Wolf's wife, Carolyn, and reacted in a "knee-jerk" manner. The Feder staffers had been questioning them aggressively for several minutes beforehand. Dutton regretted his actions, Scandling said.

The video also shows Kent's 22-year-old colleague, Josh Goodman, apparently crowded against the wall by Gary Lofton, a Republican member of the Frederick County Board of Supervisors and a Wolf supporter.

Lofton said he was not holding Goodman against his will but was trying to reason with him. The two young men, Lofton said, were raising their voices and "getting in the congressman's face," which worried him. He said he did not see anyone get struck.

"It just turned my stomach when I realized, hey, this is just activist partisan party politics at its absolute worst," Lofton said. "They should be absolutely ashamed of themselves if they have to resort to tactics like this to get elected."

Nothing justifies the response the campaign workers received, said Feder spokeswoman Marisa McNee.

"We've all seen the tape," she said. "Nothing occurs that justifies hitting someone with a cane or pinning them against a wall."

Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.