Allen West, the tea party messiah, is facing backlash from the very activists who propelled him into the national conservative stratosphere.
At issue: West’s vote to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, a position that’s put him at odds with the conservatives who have hailed him a hero.
The Florida Republican’s Facebook page has become a destination for West-bashing. “Allen West, please go home, reminisce about what your rhetoric was when you ran,” one person wrote. ”I never ever thought he would vote like this — I can only wonder what is to come from West at this point,” wrote another. “I feel like Col. West stole from me,” wrote one donor. “Can I get a refund?”
“We’ve expressed that we’re disappointed in him,” said Everett Wilkinson, chairman of the South Florida Tea Party. “The knee-jerk reaction was, ‘Let’s replace him.’”
It’s a striking about-face for West, a smash-mouth South Florida conservative and Army veteran whom some tea party activists had urged to challenge President Barack Obama in 2012. Unlike other House GOP freshmen whose clout comes from influential committee assignments or their proximity to leadership, West’s power is derived from his association with the tea party. In February — just one month into his first term — he was tapped to deliver the keynote address at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
West, whose office did not respond to a request for comment, has only fanned the flames, telling conservative radio host Laura Ingraham that his tea party critics have “schizophrenia” — because they praise him one moment and slam him the next.
But this week, West launched a campaign to cool the tensions. Appearing before the Palm Beach County Tea Party, West explained that he was advancing the long-term goals of the tea party in supporting a debt package that would implement spending cuts while keeping the country from defaulting.
“I think a lot of people are happy that he explained things,” Pam Wohlschlegel, the chairwoman of the Palm Beach County Tea Party, said after the meeting, which drew about 400 attendees.
It’s not the first time West has clashed with the tea party. In May, West voted against a GOP-sponsored bill that would scrap part of the health care reform legislation that passed last year. A West spokeswoman later said that because the repeal effort lacked enough votes in the Senate to pass, it made little sense to pursue the effort on a piecemeal basis.
“Tea party activists warned that they would focus their ire on Republicans who got elected and then attempted to moderate their positions on Obamacare, spending and taxes,” Ed Morrissey, who writes the conservative Hot Air blog, wrote at the time. “I wonder if anyone thought that one of the first they’d have to address would be Col. West?”
To be sure, West still offers conservative activists the kind of red meat and confrontational style that made them fall for him in the first place. He’s turned Democratic-bashing into a sport, and his targets range from Jesse Jackson to Debbie Wasserman Schultz, whom he recently called “the most vile, unprofessional and despicable member of the U.S. House of Representatives” and “not a lady.” This week, he told Fox News that he wants to lead black voters away from the “plantation” of the Democratic Party, likening himself to a “modern-day Harriet Tubman.”
“I think it’s a minority of the tea party members who are expressing discontent,” said Peter Feaman, a West supporter who sits on the state GOP committee. “The majority of them see him as representative of their views.”
To some, West’s break with the tea party has clear political benefits, better positioning him for what is expected to be a difficult 2012 reelection campaign. He already has two serious Democratic challengers — former West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel and construction company executive Patrick Murphy — and his seat could become more Democrat-friendly after redistricting.
Distancing himself from the tea party could also prove useful to West should he run for Senate — a race that would test whether he can appeal to a broader, statewide electorate. West cracked the door open to a Senate bid this week, saying that he hadn’t ruled it out — and one person familiar with his thinking says he’s indeed contemplating taking the plunge.
“I don’t know that he’s intentionally distancing himself from [the tea party], but that’s been the effect,” said Roger Stone, a Republican strategist who has long been involved in Florida politics. “He still commands most of these voters in a Republican primary, and he can now make the case to moderate voters that he’s independent-minded. He’s better positioned to make the case.”
“I don’t think his vote was politically calculated, but has it broadened his appeal? Yeah,” said Justin Sayfie, a former top aide to ex-Florida GOP Gov. Jeb Bush who publishes Sayfie Review, a website that tracks Florida politics.
To others, however, West’s willingness to break with the tea party over the debt ceiling has less to do with 2012 than a desire to play a broader role in the Republican Party.
“Certainly because of his visibility and fundraising power he’s become a leader in the House. Is there a shift in his ideology? No. Is there a shift in his view of himself as a leader? Yes. He views himself as a leader in Congress, someone who the outside world can trust to govern,” Feaman said. “I see him as a leader in the broader Republican Party. When I introduce him at Republican caucus meetings, he gets a standing ovation.”
Sid Dinerstein, chairman of the Palm Beach County Republican Party, said West had sought to distinguish himself from the ranks of other tea party leaders, setting a pragmatic-oriented path for the GOP as it looks to retake the White House. West realized that defaulting on the nation’s debt, Dinerstein said, simply wasn’t a politically astute option for the GOP.
“He helped lead the Republican Party and the tea party off the cliff. The country wouldn’t trust us to lead in 2012. Allen realizes that the goal is the White House. Everything is just skirmishes along the way,” said Dinerstein. “The grief he’s getting is from the right wing, from some of the conservatives who believe that they shouldn’t give one inch. What he and I believe is that we’re fighting a bigger battle.”
West allies are quick to point out that, despite all the hot air, no Republican has stepped forward to challenge him in a primary. For now, few expect West, a monster fundraiser who is one of the most well-funded House Republicans, to face a serious battle for the GOP nomination.
Ultimately, said Jack Furnari, a South Florida conservative operative and West backer, activists would support the congressman.
“On the whole, the people who define themselves as tea party are going to be with Allen West.”
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