Good recruit.

Can anyone attest to her local popularity at all?

Anyway, luckily the district is bound to become less Republican, so it's very likely the war criminal is bounced from Congress in 2012.

Ad hoc, ad loc and quid pro quo!
So little time, so much to know!

---

by: LookingOver @ Mon Mar 21, 2011 at 18:00:16 PM UTC

not sure...

...how "popular" frankel is but she does have a high profile in south florida. she is very outspoken and can be abrasive at times. that said she may just be the perfect candidate to take on crazy allen west.

---

by: boca-ron5126 @ Mon Mar 21, 2011 at 22:45:21 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Frankel

Obviously I'm biased, but I'd be quite happy is Frankel is the Dem candidate.  West was always going to attract a top-level challenger, but I would be more worried about a low key guy with a moderate profile.  Put Frankel up next to West and they will both show their rough edges.  I was more worried about a rematch with Klein, but he's bailed on it.  No way to know much of anything until the redistricting, but I think this is the best that Cong. West could have hoped for.

43 - Male - GOP/Libertarian - FL 22

---

by: Zornorph @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 01:31:31 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

The district will compact considerably.

It was drawn as a clever way to make Clay as safe as possible, but it won't stand under the rules of the new Redistricting Proposals.

The best West could hope for is that those new rules did not pass last November and he faced some 2nd tier candidate.

If this mayor has edges, that means she will take the bull by the horns rather than dance around it like Klein did.  And in a more Dem-friendly district in 2012, West will be thrown out of Congress.

Ad hoc, ad loc and quid pro quo!
So little time, so much to know!

---

by: LookingOver @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 01:51:10 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Allen West is a national embarrassment!

If Florida Dems can't defeat him next year, especially if FL-22 is reconfigured as a stronger Dem seat, then they really are worthless and weak.

And whatever the complaints are about Lois Frankel, at least she isn't deranged like Allen West.

Yes, Virginia, there ARE progressives in Nevada!
24, gay male, Democrat, NV-03 (or 04?)

---

by: atdleft @ Mon Mar 21, 2011 at 18:04:49 PM UTC

This is quite good

Even without a fair district, West would still be in trouble, he's to extreme for a marginal. A fairly drawn FL-22 with a more Dem PVI would be almost impossible for him to win.

24, male, African-American, CA-24, Democrat. Chair of the SSP Black Caucus.

---

by: DrPhillips @ Mon Mar 21, 2011 at 18:27:36 PM UTC

Good get

But we seriosuly need to stop under-estimating republicans who are "extreme" who are winning in more "moderate" districts.

Sometimes people win where they shouldn't, and we need to fight each incumbent as if they are the incumbent who knows how to win as opposed to declaring their inappropriateness for this district.

---

by: rdw72777 @ Mon Mar 21, 2011 at 19:23:06 PM UTC

Second!

party: Democratic, ideology: moderate, district: CT-01

---

by: Glenn Magus Harvey @ Mon Mar 21, 2011 at 20:00:37 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I agree with everything you say here

But on the flipside, Democratic candidates HAVE to be willing to acknowledge just how sick and crazy their opponents are. Every single Harry Reid ad fearlessly repeated Sharron Angle's most insane shit. Ron Klein talked about Allen West's tax liens. It was like the Klein campaign caught "tradmed disease," where the worst of the craziness is always smoothed out and politely ignored by reporters. (To see what I mean, contrast tradmed reporting of something like CPAC with what Dave Weigel reports.)

---

by: DavidNYC @ Mon Mar 21, 2011 at 20:01:37 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I didn't follow

this race as closely as others here, so I have to ask, did Klein just not broach the really awful things about West, or was it more a matter of how he did it and/or when he did it? It sounds like you are saying the former, but I'd like to be sure.

In a general sense, I'd say it's far less important to figure out what events or statements to use than to figure out an overall narrative and then push it relentlessly.(That's what Republicans seem to do each and every goddamn election, and even after it, too.. In 2004, it was that John Kerry was basically a traitor that would allow bin Laden to marry your sons to other boys and girls to other girls. In 2010, it was something like Obama and Nancy Pelosi taking away your job, raising your taxes, and then killing your grandma.) If West's statements about something or his past as a solider don't fit into that narrative, then they shouldn't be used. I don't know exactly what that should be, but that's not for me to decide.  

"I have never deliberately given anybody hell. I just tell the truth on the opposition-and they think it's hell."--President Harry Truman. President Obama, are you listening?

---

by: b.j. @ Mon Mar 21, 2011 at 20:13:34 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

See above... And below!

Ron Klein didn't even really try. Allen West is a walking political time bomb, yet he won because Klein fumbled on the tax lien attack and wouldn't just call him out for his batshit crazy!

For all the crap some "Netroots" folks regularly throw at Harry Reid, they were all momentarily silenced on November 2 when Mr. "Walking Political Dead Man" won reelection, even as many other Dems across the country thought to be "more viable" were going down in flames.

What Allen West did in the military and said on the radio easily fit into a narrative of "he's just too extreme, and that's dangerous", but for some reason Ron Klein dropped that ball and managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Again, read Harry Reid's political team's playbook on how they won last year. IMHO it's a shame more Dems didn't use it last year, and it would be silly for Dems not to use it next year.

Yes, Virginia, there ARE progressives in Nevada!
24, gay male, Democrat, NV-03 (or 04?)

---

by: atdleft @ Mon Mar 21, 2011 at 21:00:37 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

So then it's a matter of pointing it out?

"I have never deliberately given anybody hell. I just tell the truth on the opposition-and they think it's hell."--President Harry Truman. President Obama, are you listening?

---

by: b.j. @ Mon Mar 21, 2011 at 21:58:04 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

In a House race pointing it out is 90% of the work against a loon like West......

Most voters pay little attention to individual Senate candidates, and zero attention to individual House candidates.

That difference between "little" and "zero" is what explains at lot of whack jobs on the GOP winning House races last year when almost all candidates who were equally whacked, but no more so than their House counterparts, lost Senate races.

Only a very thin sliver of campaign nerds had any idea who Allen West was, or what his resume was.  Whatever small amount of attention most voters will willing to give to individual candidates, they were focused on the Governor's and Senate race.  After that, they're spent, and absent any information compelling them to do otherwise, they voted Republican further down the ballot due to unhappiness with Democrats.

It's hard enough to break through the clutter in a House race, but if you're in a Godawful cycle for your party and yet you have bigtime material to use against your opponent and the money to use it, you have to go nuclear a la Harry Reid.

43, male, Indian-American, Democrat, VA-10

---

by: DCCyclone @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 00:53:36 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I agree.

The thing is, rdw7277 said the following:

But we seriosuly need to stop under-estimating republicans who are "extreme" who are winning in more "moderate" districts.
Sometimes people win where they shouldn't, and we need to fight each incumbent as if they are the incumbent who knows how to win as opposed to declaring their inappropriateness for this district

Perhaps I am just being supremely dense, but I don't think I got his point. I feel like I am the dumb kid in the smart person class, just as I was in high school, and am missing something obvious. Was his point that Klein didn't go after West in a particular way? Was it that Klein didn't establish himself?  

"I have never deliberately given anybody hell. I just tell the truth on the opposition-and they think it's hell."--President Harry Truman. President Obama, are you listening?

---

by: b.j. @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 01:28:48 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

My point

People assume extremists can't win in moderate districts and they most certainly can.  Dems have lost far more races to GOP extremists in moderate areas, while fewer Dem extremists have won in moderate areas.

There's a logic that Bachmann is too conervative for anywhere, Brewer is too conservative for AZ, Hispanic majority districts in TX shouldn't be electing the GOP and on and on and on.  But the fact is that they did win, so our starting point can NEVER be that a person is not a fit for the area when they have already won election to represent the area.

Our starting point needs to be here's what Dems offer, here's what the GOP offers, and we need to fight to take the seat back, nto assume that the elecotrate who put the extremist in place will suddenly have a change of heart.  

---

by: rdw72777 @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 13:54:52 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Sounds like TX trending Dem

Can't assume it will happen, gotta work to make it happen.

---

by: conspiracy @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 14:07:02 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Okay, that makes sense.

"I have never deliberately given anybody hell. I just tell the truth on the opposition-and they think it's hell."--President Harry Truman. President Obama, are you listening?

---

by: b.j. @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 14:24:14 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Indeed

He mostly rolled out ads on tax liens, which is ok, but it has to be part of a larger, broad campaign to paint him as extreme.  And furthermore, Allen is more extreme than Angle, I daresay.

Ad hoc, ad loc and quid pro quo!
So little time, so much to know!

---

by: LookingOver @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 00:40:53 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I still can't believe how forgotten

Bachmann's made up crap about dividing Iraq into three and giving a piece to Iran for a terrorist training ground became.  Never saw a single campaign ad and that is the craziest thing she has said, period.  All of Bachmann's opponents have gone rather easy on her, actually.  And no DFLer will beat her in a district like the current one if they don't make the argument, this lady is crazy and you need to vote for me, not the Indy Party, me, to get rid of her.

---

by: Andrew @ Mon Mar 21, 2011 at 20:39:30 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Beyond partioning the state

I am generally favorable to the idea of creating a Kurdish state, but for that I'd want there to be bilateral support in the region, but what Bachmann said was just idiotic, like talking to some random person off the street, not a professional politician.  

---

by: jwaalk @ Mon Mar 21, 2011 at 20:43:29 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Do you think

part of the reason people like aren't targeted is that they indirectly benefit Democrats? It'd be nice, in a raw political sense, to have a few scalps from the likes of Steve King, Bachmann, Cantor, Ryan, and McCarthy, but I don't think we could get many of them under any normal circumstances. It makes sense than in 2010, they felt they had bigger fish to fry, but I get the feeling that they could have worked to undermine her earlier in 2008 if they wanted to. Or do you think her insanity was only really evident to those besides people like us in the final few weeks of 2008?  

"I have never deliberately given anybody hell. I just tell the truth on the opposition-and they think it's hell."--President Harry Truman. President Obama, are you listening?

---

by: b.j. @ Mon Mar 21, 2011 at 20:47:48 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

FL 22 is actually a perfect

52 with that number being the Obama , Kerry and Gore % in three straight presidential years.  As folks here remind me the blend of voters often go older and less minorities in off years.  In 2006 Klein got the wave but in 2010 that wave was a riptide the other way.  West's 54% win in 2010 was quite narrow but this seat is a classic tossup seat in off year elections.  52-48 is close for President years as well so here's three things I saw Klein, from afar, do wrong.

1. Accentuate the positive!!  Too many campaigns, on both sides did this, but it appeared to me that Klein put too much emphasis on a negative campaign.  It might not have made any difference but Florida 2010 was awash with negative campaigns.  Some emphasis on positives might have been nice.

2. The Flip side is the perception that Congressman Klein hide from his district.  West charged over and over again that Klein was not doing in person town halls.  Unless you want to be labeled out of touch you got to get into the arena.  Sure the 1st few townhalls are zoos but if he had done 40 events after awhile it gets old to show up and shout at the congressman.

3. I try to only do politics here and not policies.  Lets be clear we see politicans on both sides who make voting concessions to their district.  Klein represented a 48% McCain district and far as I recall I can't recall him being out of step with the liberal views of his district.  That worked great in 2006/2008 during the Bush years but with 10% unemployment and a housing market that collapsed in Florida it might have politically behooved Klein to stake out some middle ground on some issues.  Look at Claire Mccaskill in a 50% state she is trying to potray herself an independent liberal.  Why did Klein run like he has a district like Wasserman Schultz?  I love no specific suggestion for Klein or Ms Frankel but running a 100% liberal campaign in a 52-48 district is a path to making your seat competitive in election after election.  I would also give the same advice to Allen West that when the wave is high you can be 100% but this seat is not 100% liberal or conservative. More like 50-50.

---

by: rdelbov @ Mon Mar 21, 2011 at 21:33:10 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Are you referring to when

West told his supporters to make Klein afraid to leave his house? And handed out Klein's address? I'm just wondering.  

---

by: jwaalk @ Mon Mar 21, 2011 at 23:12:52 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Klein skipped doing

townhall meetings, from what I read, in 2009 before West was a candidate.  I don't condone what West did or did not do.  

I mention my basic three points which are campaign points  101, 102 and 103 when one is running in a marginal district.  Have a positive message, engage people of all views whenever you can and go beyond standard ideological fare as a office holder.  

If you are a down the line liberal or conservative in a marginal district you are going to struggle for re-election when you have +45% of the folks against you.

My general assumption is that West's district will be less republican come 2012 but who knows?  Either way if Ms. Frankel runs a down the line liberal campaign she might win in 2012 but history is any guide she would do well to listen to my advice.  

---

by: rdelbov @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 00:37:55 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Did Klein really not do townhall meetings?

I would understand if he stopped after West's more fanatical followers harassed his household or something like that, but if he didn't do any ever, that's a real shame and probably contributed to his loss.

Ad hoc, ad loc and quid pro quo!
So little time, so much to know!

---

by: LookingOver @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 00:45:17 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Doesn't always work

see Grayson, Alan  

---

by: DNick @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 00:09:06 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Hopeless case, not really dispositive of much

---

by: DavidNYC @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 05:07:18 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Grayson also grossly over-reached

He was onto something, that Webster is very conservative on abortion and had taken some votes that restrict access to abortion. Had he made an ad limited to that, he would have landed an effective hit on Webster without damaging himself (although I agree with David that Grayson was not going to win this cycle, regardless.) But he made a misleading ad by taking clips of a video of Webster out of context, and it made him look dishonest, and no one remembered the policy attack on Webster. That ad was probably the difference between getting 38% or a more respectable 45%.

20, CD MA-03/NH-01/MA-08

---

by: MassGOP @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 05:50:06 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I'm not sure what you mean.

"I have never deliberately given anybody hell. I just tell the truth on the opposition-and they think it's hell."--President Harry Truman. President Obama, are you listening?

---

by: b.j. @ Mon Mar 21, 2011 at 20:14:54 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

For instance Klein

didn't run ads about how West bragged about kicked out of the military for being a cowboy, basically, threatening to kill an Iraqi police officer and firing a gun right beside his head, (the officer was later found by investigators to have no involvement in possible IED's), and in generally he was just unstable. Klein didn't let voters see that unstable side. Allen West wrote and personally posted on his campaign website a nonsensical rant where he called Ron Klein Nancy Pelosi's pathetic chihuahua nipping at his heels and how he would enter the coliseum of intellectual debate with any of the namby pamby liberals. It was a disturbing bit of insight into the way West thinks. In general West holds a lot of very radical views, and scandalous statements and history; yet the only thing Ron Klein went after him for were tax liens and he ended up getting and trouble and having to apologize for releasing personal information for just that!! It was incredibly pathetic on Klein's part; he allowed West to portray himself as grizzled, but respectful military veteran who was capable of being a congressman. This was so bad that there were actually Alex Sink-Adam West voters, (Sink won the district, while Klein lost by 6-8 points, I forget).

But I think West has shown his true colors. What with his first act as congressman literally being his attempt to hire a random far-right south Florida radio talk show host, who had said, on the air, 'That if ballots don't work, bullets will'.

---

by: jwaalk @ Mon Mar 21, 2011 at 20:28:53 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Okay, but

rdw72777 said that we need to fight this race as if the incumbent knows how to win and stop simply saying that the candidate isn't appropriate for the district. Was his point simply that we need to remind voters of this? If so, then I agree, but it wasn't clear from what he's saying.

Also, why didn't the DNC or the DCCC step in with such ads? It's not as if they were powerless to do anything.  

"I have never deliberately given anybody hell. I just tell the truth on the opposition-and they think it's hell."--President Harry Truman. President Obama, are you listening?

---

by: b.j. @ Mon Mar 21, 2011 at 20:33:55 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

It's just the general

sorriness of Democrats and the reason why, this cycle, so many poor candidates and far-right teabagger candidates won the votes of moderates this year.  

---

by: jwaalk @ Mon Mar 21, 2011 at 20:37:35 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Ugh.

All the more reason for all of the remaining law schools to reject me, for me to wake up with some extra money in my savings account, for me to buy a new Audi R8, and for me to get involved with some state Democratic party to rise through the ranks and become a cooler, less evil, less ugly progressive version of Karl Rove. (The middle two are kind of unnecessary but would still be nice!) How else will these things change?  

"I have never deliberately given anybody hell. I just tell the truth on the opposition-and they think it's hell."--President Harry Truman. President Obama, are you listening?

---

by: b.j. @ Mon Mar 21, 2011 at 20:43:33 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

*about being kicked out

---

by: jwaalk @ Mon Mar 21, 2011 at 20:34:29 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

He wasn't kicked out, if I remember right.

He dropped out in disgrace to avoid a court martial.

Also, West's fanatical band of misfits harassed Klein's home.

Ad hoc, ad loc and quid pro quo!
So little time, so much to know!

---

by: LookingOver @ Mon Mar 21, 2011 at 20:58:32 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Dishonorable Discharge

I believe, or he was facing an imminent one so he retired.  

---

by: jwaalk @ Mon Mar 21, 2011 at 23:13:39 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

That's part of what it takes

If you have an opponent who is out of step with the district, it has to be pointed out. Avoiding pointing out obvious flaws is not part of a winning strategy. You need balance.

24, male, African-American, CA-24, Democrat. Chair of the SSP Black Caucus.

---

by: DrPhillips @ Mon Mar 21, 2011 at 21:22:09 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Any word on the Fair Districts fight?

What's happening with that?

20 years old, male, GA-12 (home), GA-10 (school); previously lived in CA-29, CA-28, CA-23, IL-06, IL-14, GA-01.

---

by: Nathaniel90 @ Mon Mar 21, 2011 at 20:30:15 PM UTC

From what I read

Scott's people said they won't send it in for preclearance until they received full census data.  No new updates on that yet.  All I know is that once they withdrew it from the DOJ back in January, a lawsuit against the state initiated to make them resubmit it.

I have heard nothing new since the release of the census data and it makes me annoyed as I fear Scott could get away with not implementing these Proposals all because the FL GOP wants to continue to manipulate the maps to ensure a permanent majority.

Ad hoc, ad loc and quid pro quo!
So little time, so much to know!

---

by: LookingOver @ Mon Mar 21, 2011 at 21:01:08 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Reading over the news

it looks like Scott's people asked for a delay until April 1 (after an initial deadline of March 16) for them to respond to the plaintiffs' brief because "the issue may be resolved before then." Some people think this means Scott is ready to play ball and submit the amendments to the DOJ.

20 years old, male, GA-12 (home), GA-10 (school); previously lived in CA-29, CA-28, CA-23, IL-06, IL-14, GA-01.

---

by: Nathaniel90 @ Mon Mar 21, 2011 at 21:05:18 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

It's more complex than that

Yes, I believe he's dragging his feet, but the VRA is complex in that state. Since only a few counties in FL need preclearance, the rest of them (like the ones in South Florida) must follow it without preclearance. See? It's confusing.

And these amendments won't make the differenced you think. Political scientists did tests, and determined that even under normal, nonpartisan maps, the GOP would still win 59% of the seats.

Florida is heavily GOP because most of the Democrats are compacted in urban areas, not because of gerrymandering.

---

by: thematt523 @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 01:39:40 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Indeed, but

Young's seat and FL-22 will swing more Dem as a result.

Ad hoc, ad loc and quid pro quo!
So little time, so much to know!

---

by: LookingOver @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 01:45:39 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

FL-10 needs to add population

And with the Redistricting proposal calling for compactness and little regard for incumbency, Young is probably going to be forced to retire.

Ad hoc, ad loc and quid pro quo!
So little time, so much to know!

---

by: LookingOver @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 01:59:30 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Young & FL-10

Any word on this district, BTW? Young was rumoured for retirement in 2010, but didn't, and he beat Charlie Justice handily 66-34- practically "some dude" numbers for Justice, despite him supposedly being a top-drawer recruit. The 2008 Dem nominee, Hackworth, didn't fare any better and lost a county commission race in 2010.

In Feb 2010 when Young announced he was running, by which time Justice was already flagging, James L observed that Dems were better off dealing with the seat in 2012. Is that still true, and any idea of Dem nominees?

http://www.swingstateproject.c...

---

by: Ebjebie @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 12:51:25 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Which counties require preclearance?

Ad hoc, ad loc and quid pro quo!
So little time, so much to know!

---

by: LookingOver @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 02:13:25 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Only 5

Collier, Hardee, Hendry, Hillsborough, and Monroe. All of which are in Southwestern Florida (I thought they were in North Florida. Sorry.)

---

by: thematt523 @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 02:27:03 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Phew

FL-22 is not affected by the need for preclearance (and neither is FL-10 from what I see).

Ad hoc, ad loc and quid pro quo!
So little time, so much to know!

---

by: LookingOver @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 02:37:42 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

No, the entire map would be subject to pre-clearance

because it includes the affected counties.  

---

by: Johnny Longtorso @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 02:43:48 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

WTH?

Then why didn't they just make the whole state require preclearance?  I'm confused now.

Ad hoc, ad loc and quid pro quo!
So little time, so much to know!

---

by: LookingOver @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 02:54:05 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Preclearance

is only required for areas that have...well, let's call it a history of racism. Florida was one of those states that rarely had that. So only certain counties are required to have supervision.

So the rest of the state doesn't need it, but the instant those counties are involved, they need preclearance. It's complicated. I told you that.

---

by: thematt523 @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 03:02:51 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

So Johnny was a little off?

Ad hoc, ad loc and quid pro quo!
So little time, so much to know!

---

by: LookingOver @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 03:07:06 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Well

You can't redistrict the whole state without these counties.

---

by: thematt523 @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 03:47:00 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Alright....

So only the districts that include any of those counties have to be precleared (as should Props 5 and 6)?  All others can go right on ahead, with Props 5 and 6 implemented?

Ad hoc, ad loc and quid pro quo!
So little time, so much to know!

---

by: LookingOver @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 04:22:48 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Because preclearance applies to any change in methods of voting

For example, if one of the affected counties wanted to redistrict their county commissioner districts, they'd need to get preclearance to do so. There's apparently no need to require every voting change in the state to undergo preclearance, just ones that affect the subject counties.

---

by: Johnny Longtorso @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 12:13:47 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

41%

Right now the congressional delegation is 19 R 6 D. We have less that a quarter of the congressional share. Our share would nearly double if we go from what we have now to the 'fair' redistricting.

---

by: PropJoe @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 02:18:38 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

59% is very different than 76%

which is what their current 19-6 majority represents.

20 years old, male, GA-12 (home), GA-10 (school); previously lived in CA-29, CA-28, CA-23, IL-06, IL-14, GA-01.

---

by: Nathaniel90 @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 03:13:14 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

West

 Apparently tried to impersonate Harry Reid at a 9/12 event. It looks like just another part of his weirdness.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/...

for more election analysis, visit  http://frogandturtle.blogspot....

17, CA-06,  

---

by: Alibguy @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 01:00:12 AM UTC

The fact that he went to a 9/12

event is disgusting and offensive.  

---

by: jwaalk @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 01:13:58 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

9/12 event?

That is soooo 2009.

Ad hoc, ad loc and quid pro quo!
So little time, so much to know!

---

by: LookingOver @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 01:17:55 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Absolutely hilarious

Not. The Tea Party has a stupid sense of humor laughing at that.

24, male, African-American, CA-24, Democrat. Chair of the SSP Black Caucus.

---

by: DrPhillips @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 02:53:41 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

good

west should lose to anybody, since his district will be at least as democratic as bob dold's

18, Dem, CA-14 (home) CA-09 (college, next year). social libertarian, economic liberal, fiscal conservative.   Everybody should put age and CD here. :)

---

by: jncca @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 02:10:04 AM UTC

...

You know, I really disagree about everyone's characterizations of West as a right-wing crazy.

He is very well spoken and, frankly, calm. When we throw around works like "crazy" and "insane" and "wackjob", we have to remember the image that that conjures for most people. It certainly doesn't conjure up West.

I do think some of his positions are out there and that he is off the mark for his district by a fair amount, but he certainly isn't absolutely batshit insane. Even Anthony Weiner - a man who I agree with most of the time - comes off as more insane than West in his joke speeches.

21, Conservative Gay Democrat, NM-2 (Childhood) TX-10 (Home) TX-23 (School);   DKos: wwmiv.

---

by: wmayes @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 02:53:59 AM UTC

Yeah

He isn't obvious, but then again, he puts on a facade. As you said, he's out there in many of his views.  Politically speaking, I would say he's almost exactly like Geert Wilders of Holland (for example, at CPAC, he called for an end to multiculturalism in the US).

But yes, if you heard him speak, he doesn't conjure what you expect when you hear him called "nutjob."  He's not frothing mad in public and that was his saving grace.

Also, I have talked to some of his fans on Facebook and they are the ones who are truly unhunged.  When I brought up his martial charges, they said that I should shut up because he was in Iraq saving my "liberal ass" from terrorists.  I linked to an old story from CNN to prove to them that he committed a martial crime, but they scoffed at my link and thankfully never spoke with me again.

Ad hoc, ad loc and quid pro quo!
So little time, so much to know!

---

by: LookingOver @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 03:06:06 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

One of those facebook fans

even equated him with George Washington. lol

Ad hoc, ad loc and quid pro quo!
So little time, so much to know!

---

by: LookingOver @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 03:11:53 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Your comments

are a good reminder of why it's necessary to walk a fine line with some people. With candidates like Palin or Bachmann, they can fairly easily appear as loons. But I could easily see West having the same advantage handed to him by Democrats that Dick Cheney had handed to him in 2004. As a few people said at the time, all Cheney had to do in the debates was not eat a live baby and he'd be fine, considering how intense some of the attacks from our side were. That's what happened.

By the way, why only Temporary Dem? Nothing else but the Log Cabin stuff? (Feel free to tell me to eff off if I am being too nosey, by the way.)  

"I have never deliberately given anybody hell. I just tell the truth on the opposition-and they think it's hell."--President Harry Truman. President Obama, are you listening?

---

by: b.j. @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 03:41:56 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

...

Email me and we'll talk: this.anonymity@gmail.com

21, Conservative Gay Democrat, NM-2 (Childhood) TX-10 (Home) TX-23 (School);   DKos: wwmiv.

---

by: wmayes @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 05:30:39 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

i think

he and rick scott are not crazy, politically. at least not more so than other tea partiers.  the problem is they probably should both be in jail, and allen west is the only congressman who should be in jail for non-corruption issues, as far as I can think of (e.g. actual violent crime)

18, Dem, CA-14 (home) CA-09 (college, next year). social libertarian, economic liberal, fiscal conservative.   Everybody should put age and CD here. :)

---

by: jncca @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 04:12:30 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Sorry, that's not accurate

And to say that Weiner comes off as more insane than him is flat out inaccurate. Weiner might get angry sometimes, but he's never posted comments like West has, like this one.

"From henceforth ... to unseat the inept Florida Congressman ... a sure sign of desperation ... his insidious advertisement ... no regard for working American families - certainly not any member of the Serf class who would dare challenge little Lord Ron ... it reveals how much respect this cretin has for our Military Veterans and their families ... I will take pure pleasure in defeating Klein ... the snippy little liberal chihuahuas came out to bark at my ankles ... Message to all liberals, name calling and petulant simpleton gimmicks dare not distract me from my mission; destroying the liberal progressive socialist machine and its legislative agenda ... You will find that this Conservative will parry your weak punches and deliver knockout blows. If it is a fight for America you seek, you came to the right place ... and shall find yourselves fleeing in utter desperation, same as the pathetic liberal Congressman against whom I run. I invite all of you into the arena where this intellectual Warrior awaits you on the field of combat for principles of governance and ideals."

That sounds a little wacky to me.


24, male, African-American, CA-24, Democrat. Chair of the SSP Black Caucus.

---

by: DrPhillips @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 04:44:45 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I question whether

the poster knew enough about him to make those comments.

19, Self Appointed Chair of the SSP Gay Caucus (I claimed it first :p), male, Dem, IN-09 (College IN-09) (Raised IL-03, IL-09)

---

by: ndrwmls10 @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 04:49:26 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

...

Did I not say his positions were out there? I just don't agree that he's crazy. Crazy is what you'd call Bachmann, Palin, and Gingrich.

Crazy is the total package. Someone who speaks well isn't crazy. He's out there, but he's certainly not that total package.

21, Conservative Gay Democrat, NM-2 (Childhood) TX-10 (Home) TX-23 (School);   DKos: wwmiv.

---

by: wmayes @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 05:22:55 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Thankfully....

The new Props will deliver the "knockout blow" to West.

Ad hoc, ad loc and quid pro quo!
So little time, so much to know!

---

by: LookingOver @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 05:04:07 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

...

From the point of view of an average American, Weiner comes off as a total whackjob. A correct, in my view, whackjob. But a whackjob asshole nonetheless.

I love him, but many people do not. Remember that perception of ideology is all relative to the viewer's ideology and the temperament that it is delivered with.

21, Conservative Gay Democrat, NM-2 (Childhood) TX-10 (Home) TX-23 (School);   DKos: wwmiv.

---

by: wmayes @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 05:36:07 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Brooklyn Democrat

nuff said.

23, liberal democrat, SSP Gay Caucus Majority Whip, IN-02 (home), IN-03 (birth), SC-03 (early childhood), IN-09 (college);   DKos: HoosierD42

---

by: HoosierD42 @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 11:40:18 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

This truly reminds me of

Ignatius Riley from A Confederacy of Dunces. It's uncanny.  

---

by: jwaalk @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 06:27:49 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

"That sounds a little wacky to me"

Me too. Wackadoodle Dandy.

---

by: conspiracy @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 12:55:58 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Yeah well

That's why they invented politics: So that we can make sure people's perceptions of West match reality. This is just another version of the "George Bush is the kind of guy you'd like to have a beer with" madness that masked his true nature.

---

by: DavidNYC @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 05:10:20 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

.

For what its worth, Bush is not the kind of guy I'd have a beer with. I wouldn't have beer with West either. The only subject I'm interested in is politics. Could you imagine that conversation going well? Not really.

Again, crazy is the total package. His positions are crazy, but he isn't because he doesn't convey them in a crazy way.

21, Conservative Gay Democrat, NM-2 (Childhood) TX-10 (Home) TX-23 (School);   DKos: wwmiv.

---

by: wmayes @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 05:25:02 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

BU Alumnus

Go Terriers! :)

Some Dude, 19, Democrat, NH-02 (residence), MA-08 (college)

---

by: xcave @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 04:33:50 AM UTC

I

don't know if this is good news or not. I think she'll win if she is the nominee, I see absolutely no way whatsoever that West can win in a D+8 but maybe a fresh face would be better. She seems at least mildly unpopular and risky choice. She tried to get of term limits so she could stay in office and barely got a few thousand signatures. Does not sound very popular. Like I said I have no doubt she'll win but I have no doubt any dem would win, and maybe a fresher face could do so with a better margin. Are there any other potential candidates out there?

Proud member of the Indiana Democratic Party from IN-9.  

---

by: hoosierdem @ Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 14:55:20 PM UTC