Allen West makes waves, earns tea-party raves

This is a very good article about Allen West and his fight for re-election in Florida.

Excerpt: Firm in his convictions and unafraid to share them. It was vintage West — brash, brusque and bombastic.

The black biker and conservative Republican who became a fixture on the tea party circuit has brought his own brand to Congress.

“I’m not a career politician,” West says. “I’m just being myself.”

When West speaks his mind, it turns on his tea party fan base, which is hoping the fiery freshman will run for president in 2012. But Democrats consider him vulnerable. Two are already gunning for his seat, repeating the 2010 campaign attack line that he’s too far right for the moderate Broward-Palm Beach district that went for Democrats Barack Obama in 2008 and John Kerry in 2004. Republicans are looking to defend him, putting his congressional seat in the first round of a national protection program aimed at keeping their most endangered candidates in office.

West, characteristically, has a blunt message for his opponents: “Tell them to have fun, try,” he says.

“I’m not a vulnerable candidate, I’m a target,” he says. “I’m a target because the Democrats are not used to anyone who will stand up and confront them.


Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/06/18/2273469/allen-west-makes-waves-earns-tea.html#ixzz1PjY2RPwH

Read Miami Herald article here.