In a race that has attracted national attention, retired Lt. Col. Allen West has taken a narrow lead over Democratic incumbent Rep. Ron Klein in South Florida's 22nd Congressional District, according to a new poll.
West drew became known to WND readers in 2003 when the Army prosecuted him for bold interrogation tactics he used to protect his soldiers in Iraq. Amid his controversial ordeal, he drew support from congressmen and many Americans who regarded him as a hero.
West lost by 10 points to Klein in 2008, but he leads the Democrat 47-44 in the survey of likely voters conducted Oct. 17-19 by Voter Survey Service and commissioned by Sunshine State News.
"West has to be the slight favorite here simply because of the turnout differential," Jim Lee, president of Voter Survey Service, told Sunshine State News.
West's passionately delivered emphasis on constitutional principles of liberty, fiscal responsibility, strong national defense and free-market solutions has attracted an audience well beyond Florida's 22nd district.
A video of his rally cry to the party base in preparation for his 2010 run has generated more than 2 million hits on YouTube.com.
See Allen West's speech:
Lee said the 22nd District race will clearly be a referendum on President Obama's performance, noting voters who approve of the president are voting for Klein 87-7, while those who disapprove are voting for West 84-8.
"Since Obama's overall job approval is inverted 52-43, we'd give the edge to West, because the enthusiasm favors the GOP this year," Lee said.
The South Florida district, which stretches along the coast from Fort Lauderdale north to Jupiter, has leaned Democratic in presidential election years but tends to be a tossup in midterm elections, when turnouts are lower, Sunshine State News said.
Republican Rep. Clay Shaw held the seat for 26 years until he was defeated by Klein in 2006.
Sept. 30 filings with the Federal Election Commission show West's campaign has brought in more than $5 million, with $1.6 million coming in the past quarter alone – four times the amount he raised in his entire 2008 campaign.
Grodin said 99 percent of the money comes from from individual contributions, with an average donation of $75.
Klein's has raised $3.1 million, according to the FEC report. But West has $1.6 million in cash on hand, while Klein has just $270,000.
'Bad guys are going to lose'
As WND reported in 2003, West was threatened with court-martial for tactics he used to flush out information from an uncooperative Iraqi policeman. Threatening to kill the Iraqi if he didn't talk, West fired a pistol near the policeman's head, producing an immediate flood of information that purportedly led to the arrest of two insurgents and cessation of attacks on West's 4th Infantry Division battalion.
In a 2008 interview with WND, West said his 2003 ordeal should tell voters what kind of a lawmaker he would be, particularly when it comes to issues of defense.
"If you're a bad guy, and you try to get between me and the safety and lives of American citizens, you're going to lose," West said.
Army prosecutors charged West with aggravated assault, and he faced the possibility of up to eight years in prison. At a hearing, West was asked by his defense attorney if he would do it again.
"If it's about the lives of my men and their safety, I'd go through hell with a gasoline can," he said.
West eventually accepted a nonjudicial punishment and the forfeiture of two months' pay. He retired from the military and moved with his wife, Angela, and two young daughters to Broward County, Florida, where he taught high school. He served in Afghanistan as an adviser to the Afghan army until November 2007.
The campaign, in its final weeks, is getting personal.
Klein's campaign ads have accused West of having ties to a motorcycle group, the Outlaws, that the U.S. Justice Department has labeled criminal.
A local TV station showed footage of leather-clad men at a West outdoor fundraiser who wore patches of a club affiliated with the Outlaws intimidating a Florida Democratic Party videographer into leaving. Democrats charge the men were following West's orders.
But West's campaign distributed photos showing Klein at an event with the same bikers, and one can be spotted with the same patch.
"In actuality, they're Vietnam veterans," West spokesman Josh Grodin told Sunshine State News.
"Frankly, Klein doesn't have a message. He's just running from his record and attacking Allen West," Grodin said.
An NBC News report by Lisa Myers picked up on the controversy, suggesting the alleged association shows West condones criminal activity.
Photo distributed by West's campaign shows Rep. Ron Klein with the same bikers Klein has tied to West.
West's campaign called the report a "political hatchet job by the liberal mainstream media."
"It should not come as a surprise to the good people of South Florida that incumbent Ron Klein and his cronies in the Democratic Party are playing dirty tricks to destroy the character of a man who served 22 years in the U.S. Army," said Grodin.
Noting the Florida Democratic Party sent West's Social Security number to hundreds of thousands of Florida residents, Grodin called the attempt to tie West to the Outlaws "another desperate move for a politician who sees his power slipping away." The Florida Democratic Party says the Social Security number was mistakenly sent out in a flier that featured a copy of a 2005 tax lien against West. The party apologized and offered up to two years of identity theft protection to West. The West campaign rejected the offer as a "backhanded apology." An ad highlighted the incident as a "desperate act."
"Let me be perfectly clear," Grodin said, "Allen West has absolutely no ties to the outlaw bikers club – an organization with a history of criminal activity, as well as racism against African Americans."
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, or DCCC, responded by pointing out Myers' NBC News report produced an e-mail from a West supporter warning that a "criminal organization members in leather riding up [Interstate]-95 is not the picture Allen wants."
NBC reported that West replied by emailing: "Please no more references to 'criminal'. I was never more amazed at how members of the Outlaws guarded me during an interview." The NBC report:
West denounced the NBC report as a "liberal character assassination attack" in an interview with the National Journal's online publication Hotline On Call,
"This most recent desperate insidious attack where Lisa Myers did her piece where they are trying to associate me as a member of the Outlaw motorcycle club," he said. "If she did her research, she'd know that the Outlaws do not accept blacks, Jews or gays."
The DCCC argued West has written a column for a South Florida biker magazine, Wheels On The Road, that appears to endorse the Outlaws and includes demeaning photos of women.
"There is no connection between the Outlaws motorcycle club and the magazine," West told Hotline On Call in the Oct. 14 interview. "There certainly is no connection with myself and the club."
West explained that the column is run by other blogs and magazines in addition to Wheels On The Road.
"I was asked to do that [column] by the editor because he wanted the South Florida biker community to learn more about politics," West said.
In an e-mail to supporters, West explained that after 22 years in the U.S. Army, including three combat zones, he "became an avid bike rider, and enjoy spending the occasional Saturday riding my bike with fellow veterans."
"I have neither belonged to an organization like the Outlaw Motorcycle Club, nor do I condone any of the kind of criminal behavior that they have been involved in," he said.
The DCCC also argued West was listed as a speaker on fliers for a rally hosted Oct. 16 by Wheels on the Road. But West didn't attend, explaining he decided to spend time with his family.
