Allen West open to primarying Rubio

[RPfan1992]

Former Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) said Wednesday that he may mount a primary challenge to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) in their state's 2016 Senate primary.

West told station WMAL that he could run for Senate, "If I see people that are not taking our country down the right path, if I see people that are not standing up for the right type of principles and putting their own party politics before what is best for the United States of America."

Asked directly if he would rule out challenging Rubio, West responded, "Chirping... chirping... chirping."
"We'll see what happens down the pike," he added. "God will set my feet on the right path."


The one-term congressman, who narrowly lost reelection last year, acknowledged he would face an uphill battle.

"That's a pretty heavy lift, because you're talking about running against a sitting senator, and then of course, that creates that schism that the other side would love to see happen," said West.

But the former congressman said he had a "lot of concerns" over the comprehensive immigration reform proposal crafted by a bipartisan group — including Rubio — in the Senate.

"This whole 'comprehensive' thing - I think the bill now is up to 1,075 pages - once again, the American people don't trust that," West said.

Rubio, a Tea Party favorite, is seen as crucial to winning conservative support for the immigration bill. But the Florida senator has suggested he may oppose the measure he helped write unless tougher border security requirements are adopted.

West has said he has no plans to run for the House of Representatives again in 2014.






http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/gop-primaries/306451-allen-west-says-he-could-mount-primary-challenge-to-marco-rubio

[Occam's Banana]

Tweedle-dee vs. Tweedle-dum. I like it.

[supermario21]

I don't get the obsession so many have with West (TP folks not RPF members) . He's just a loudmouth neocon, almost as useless as Bachmann.

[trey4sports]

fight! fight! fight! fight! - I hope they are both politically eviscerated by the end of that primary!

[thoughtomator]

West is the single most noxiously self-important figure I've had the displeasure to encounter firsthand since I got involved in politics. What anyone ever saw in him as a politician is beyond me.

[Bastiat's The Law]

I don't get the obsession so many have with West (TP folks not RPF members) . He's just a loudmouth neocon, almost as useless as Bachmann.
Very accurate assessment. West and Rubio really only serve to confuse, otherwise decent tea party people, that would be coming our way on numerous issues. West losing his reelection helped us out immensely! It also aided Rand's Presidential bid come 2016. West likely won't be a candidate now. Too many republican/conservatives are suckers for a man in uniform (military). Critical thinking goes out the window when patriotic fervor takes hold.

When I would check the comment of other websites it used to be a siren call for West and Rubio. They were the two most popular early contenders. Those voices have dissipated or died out all together. Now Rand is king of the hill and even Rubio's star has faded.

[Bastiat's The Law]

West is the single most noxiously self-important figure I've had the displeasure to encounter firsthand since I got involved in politics. What anyone ever saw in him as a politician is beyond me.
His arrogance was on display when he voted for a debt ceiling increase. He faced a pretty harsh tea party backlash and went back and forth with them on social media. He basically said he didn't care what they thought. They promised to replace him and he boldly told them to bring it on. Fast forward several months and the tea party made good on their promise. All that said, there's still a significant portion of zombies that eat up everything he shovels.

[trey4sports]

Very accurate assessment. West and Rubio really only serve to confuse, otherwise decent tea party people, that would be coming our way on numerous issues. West losing his reelection helped us out immensely! It also aided Rand's Presidential bid come 2016. West likely won't be a candidate now. Too many republican/conservatives are suckers for a man in uniform (military). Critical thinking goes out the window when patriotic fervor takes hold.

When I would check the comment of other websites it used to be a siren call for West and Rubio. They were the two most popular early contenders. Those voices have dissipated or died out all together. Now Rand is king of the hill and even Rubio's star has faded.


Rand's rise has been meteoric. In the last couple months he has clearly established himself as the front-runner, however, Rubio still has a lot of appeal with everyday joe's out there who are most concerned with "winning."

[cindy25]

isn't there a possible Liberty candidate? in 3 way primaries anything can happen

[QuickZ06]

His arrogance was on display when he voted for a debt ceiling increase. He faced a pretty harsh tea party backlash and went back and forth with them on social media. He basically said he didn't care what they thought. They promised to replace him and he boldly told them to bring it on. Fast forward several months and the tea party made good on their promise. All that said, there's still a significant portion of zombies that eat up everything he shovels.

And it was glorious. Military let him go and so did the people, when will he ever learn.

[speciallyblend]

Tweedle-dee vs. Tweedle-dum. I like it.


dumb vs dumber!

[compromise]

I don't like West particularly, and don't like his sudden switch from someone who wanted to reduce military spending on the campaign trail to another military Keynesian in office. But he's not an ideological neoconservative, while Rubio is. West voted for the Kucinich resolution on Libya, he's fairly consistently backed foreign aid cuts, he wants secure borders.

He's probably closest to Ron Johnson or Tim Scott, albeit a little less fiscally conservative. I could see West supporting the Rand Paul budget, while Rubio would not.

Also, West is an idiot. That's not such a bad thing. Say Rand loses the 2016 primary, Hillary wins the general and Rand runs again in 2020. Senator West will likely move in then. And he'll be back out in a few weeks after serving as comic relief. Rubio, on the other hand, will not. He's not the brightest, but he's much more careful about what he says.

[Bastiat's The Law]

West losing was one of the greatest things to happen to the liberty movement going forward.

[compromise]

If I'm given a choice between someone who believes we shouldn't go into Syria as it will start WWIII (probably a dumb statement, but who cares) and Obama's no.1 foreign policy cheerleader on the right, I'll go with the first guy.

[Bastiat's The Law]

West cannot be trusted and is far too dangerous with the 'rally round the flag' mentality republicans display.

West, Cotton, Rubio, McCain, Graham are the top tier neocon mischief makers. All are enemies to liberty and should be removed from office.

[compromise]

West cannot be trusted and is far too dangerous with the 'rally round the flag' mentality republicans display.

West, Cotton, Rubio, McCain, Graham are the top tier neocon mischief makers. All are enemies to liberty and should be removed from office.

He's definitely not up there with Cotton, McCain, Graham and Rubio. Cotton, McCain, Graham and Rubio are professional neoconservatives who defend foreign aid, intervention in Libya and intervention in Syria. West is just a standard rank and file Republican with a tendency to make bombastic statements in order to attract attention and inflate his huge ego. Really, on the fundamental foreign policy issues, there is little difference between him and someone like his close friend Paul Broun. Both support "national security" wars like Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran, while opposing "humanitarian" wars like Kosovo, Libya and Syria. Cotton/Rubio support ALL wars.

West is a blind partisan. When Obama says bomb Libya, he says don't arm Libya. When Obama says withdraw from Afghanistan, he says don't withdraw from Afghanistan. When Obama says be cautious with military action against Iran, he says bomb Iran. When Obama says arm the Syrian rebels, he says don't arm the Syrian rebels. He just does the opposite of what Obama and the Dems want. He will also likely align himself totally with any Republican administration in office, including Rubio's...or Rand's.

Cotton and Rubio will be consistent regardless of whether a Republican or Democrat is the president. They will rail hard (allying themselves with the Dems) against Rand if he wins in 2016. West is on friendly terms with Rand and Cruz. Cotton is not, repeatedly bashing them for their stance on drones. And I'm sure you already know what McCain and Graham think of Rand and Cruz.

Rubio is a formidable ally of the McCain-Graham caucus. West would be a massive improvement over that clown. I'll vote for the liberty candidate in the primary, but I would still count a West win over Rubio as a lesser of two evils.

[matt0611]

He's definitely not up there with Cotton, McCain, Graham and Rubio. Cotton, McCain, Graham and Rubio are professional neoconservatives who defend foreign aid, intervention in Libya and intervention in Syria. West is just a standard rank and file Republican with a tendency to make bombastic statements in order to attract attention and inflate his huge ego. Really, on the fundamental foreign policy issues, there is little difference between him and someone like his close friend Paul Broun. Both support "national security" wars like Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran, while opposing "humanitarian" wars like Kosovo, Libya and Syria. Cotton/Rubio support ALL wars.

West is a blind partisan. When Obama says bomb Libya, he says don't arm Libya. When Obama says withdraw from Afghanistan, he says don't withdraw from Afghanistan. When Obama says be cautious with military action against Iran, he says bomb Iran. When Obama says arm the Syrian rebels, he says don't arm the Syrian rebels. He just does the opposite of what Obama and the Dems want. He will also likely align himself totally with any Republican administration in office, including Rubio's...or Rand's.

Cotton and Rubio will be consistent regardless of whether a Republican or Democrat is the president. They will rail hard (allying themselves with the Dems) against Rand if he wins in 2016. West is on friendly terms with Rand and Cruz. Cotton is not, repeatedly bashing them for their stance on drones. And I'm sure you already know what McCain and Graham think of Rand and Cruz.

Rubio is a formidable ally of the McCain-Graham caucus. West would be a massive improvement over that clown. I'll vote for the liberty candidate in the primary, but I would still count a West win over Rubio as a lesser of two evils.

Yeah, that's a good point. McCain-Graham are consistently on the wrong side of every single issue, you'd think they'd be on the right side every once in a while just out of blind partisanship.

[69360]

Maybe he's a tiny bit better than Rubio. But if he could beat, come close to or damage Rubio politically somehow in the primary, Rubio's presidential ambitions against Rand are over.

[surf]

how dare you folks badmouth Lt. Col West who proudly served in the great war and wrought fruitless information via enhanced interrogation.

F#cking warmonger vs F#cking warmonger.

lesser of two evils- which is it?

[PaleoPaul]

Florida tends to produce the WORST politicians. Sigh.

[Bastiat's The Law]

Florida tends to produce the WORST politicians. Sigh.
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[supermario21]

Comparing Allen West to Tim Scott is an insult to Scott. He's been right up there in Cruz/Lee territory if you ask me. I think he exceeded all of our expectations.