Just two months into his first term, Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) has skyrocketed to national prominence, but he's already limiting himself to just four terms in Congress.
The retired Army colonel smashed fundraising records as he defeated Rep. Ron Klein (D-Fla.) last year, but it was his bombastic, frank style that made him a magnet for headlines. A favorite of the tea party, he even snagged the closing speaking slot at last month's Conservative Political Action Conference.
The retired Army colonel smashed fundraising records as he defeated Rep. Ron Klein (D-Fla.) last year, but it was his bombastic, frank style that made him a magnet for headlines. A favorite of the tea party, he even snagged the closing speaking slot at last month's Conservative Political Action Conference.
But it's that bluntness even as he sits in a swing district that makes West one of the top targets heading into 2012. Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel was in West's Ft. Lauderdale district last week recruiting challengers, but West told National Journal in an interview this week that he welcomed the challenge from Democrats, and that he's using the speculation of his vulnerability to his advantage.
"It's already helping my fundraising," said West. "I welcome that. I thrive on the environment of competition."
Even as he's certainly eyeing a second term, West said he would serve no more than eight years in the House, decrying the Washington culture as an "insular world."
"The longer you are here, the more out of touch you are," said West.
And while he says he's perplexed over the media's fascination with him - "for some reason, the media has given me a national profile," West noted - he's not shying away from the nationwide requests he's gotten, and will soon headline state GOP gatherings in Georgia, North Carolina, and even the local District of Columbia Republicans.
His district could be drastically altered as lines are redrawn this year, but West doesn't believe that one of the Republicans' two African-American members of Congress will be drawn out of a district. "The governor and the state legislature [are] going to draw the lines as they determine. However, I believe it would be a mistake to redraw the lines of this district to put me at a disadvantage." West said that his unique positioning as a black Republican bewilders - and scares - the other party. "I totally invalidate everything about social welfare policies," said West, who grew up in inner-city Atlanta and "embraces conservatives' values of reliance on the individual and not the federal government." It's made him an anomaly even within his own party as the only Republican in the Congressional Black Caucus after Rep. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) declined to join. West said he's been received well among the rest of the Democratic lawmakers. When he first introduced himself to Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), who even came to the district to campaign for Klein, West said the civil-rights icon was shocked to hear that his parents, who he described as conservative Democrats, had voted for Lewis as their congressman in Atlanta.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/blogs/hotlineoncall/2011/03/west-will-limit-himself-to-four-terms-02
"It's already helping my fundraising," said West. "I welcome that. I thrive on the environment of competition."
Even as he's certainly eyeing a second term, West said he would serve no more than eight years in the House, decrying the Washington culture as an "insular world."
"The longer you are here, the more out of touch you are," said West.
And while he says he's perplexed over the media's fascination with him - "for some reason, the media has given me a national profile," West noted - he's not shying away from the nationwide requests he's gotten, and will soon headline state GOP gatherings in Georgia, North Carolina, and even the local District of Columbia Republicans.
His district could be drastically altered as lines are redrawn this year, but West doesn't believe that one of the Republicans' two African-American members of Congress will be drawn out of a district. "The governor and the state legislature [are] going to draw the lines as they determine. However, I believe it would be a mistake to redraw the lines of this district to put me at a disadvantage." West said that his unique positioning as a black Republican bewilders - and scares - the other party. "I totally invalidate everything about social welfare policies," said West, who grew up in inner-city Atlanta and "embraces conservatives' values of reliance on the individual and not the federal government." It's made him an anomaly even within his own party as the only Republican in the Congressional Black Caucus after Rep. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) declined to join. West said he's been received well among the rest of the Democratic lawmakers. When he first introduced himself to Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), who even came to the district to campaign for Klein, West said the civil-rights icon was shocked to hear that his parents, who he described as conservative Democrats, had voted for Lewis as their congressman in Atlanta.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/blogs/hotlineoncall/2011/03/west-will-limit-himself-to-four-terms-02