It's easy to see why Soros likes the cut of Romney's jib. Allen West is one of the best congressmen to come in with the Tea Party wave of 2010, by far, and he is Right, in full principle. So of course RinoLand would target him.Romney, or rather the branch of the Republicans who see him as the figure to sustain their Establishment, is poison to those who would stop Obama. At this rate, his nomination won't even have the saving grace of seeing the House in opposition.
Truly pathetic.
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If this is true, it truly sucks. But it sounds (at least in part) like insider hearsay. And the connection to Romney is really tenuous. Not saying it couldn't happen, but hey, let's have proof before jumping to conclusions.
What is not insider "hearsay" is that West's district, under a Republican controlled process, has been targeted. Usually you are trying to preserver safer seats, and it is highly unusual to undermine one of your own representatives. In particular, if you do undermine one of your own it has been traditionally one who's been caught doing the Momo with a 9 year old girl, or has stolen from his granny, or whatever. To target a rising star of the GOP? There's absolutely no good reason for that..... unless the whole point is to prevent that star from rising.
What's also not insider "hearsay" is that the man in charge of this process is Romney's man in Florida.
Finally, what's also not insider "hearsay" is that West is one of the leading stars of the Tea Party, and has been open in his strong support for its aims.
There is, in politics, perhaps much less coincidence than is allowed for by the charitable eye.
Sure, Allen West is a good guy--and a rising star. And yes, there is a redistricting fight down in Florida--the GOP is trying to expand its turf down there. These are facts. Now, whether there are long knives out to get West (hard to imagine, but strangest things happen in politics), or whether Romney is personally involved in this (sounds rather ludicrous to me), are matters of speculation, I'd say. I would need some concrete proof to buy the theory that there is something nefarious going on here, beyond the usual rough-and-tumble of non-Chicago politics.
Concrete proof, with the Chicago Way, comes when the sucker is about 5 fathoms deep into Lake Michigan.
This is NOT the usual "rough and tumble of Non-Chicago politics". The targeting of one of your own is simply unheard of in these redistricting moments, unless that person has become a terribly serious problem for you. The usual roughness is between the parties, not internally.
What, what exactly, Tecumseh, could be that "terribly serious problem" that leads the GOP chieftains to target one of their own Party, other than the obvious? The obvious being that West has become a genuine thorn in the side of the Establishment, and so precisely because he takes seriously the movement he represented in the election of 2010?
The divide between Establishment and Tea Party [this last being what's left of the Reagan movement with the GOP] is not bound by geography, but runs through all levels. The Establishment [House of Bush, Rove, Romney, represents it as well as anyone]has spent far more energy and time on trying to beat down the Tea Party, since 2010, than it has ever shown any inclination of spending on stopping Obama. It is a ruling class apparently far more comfortable with a Scott Brown than an Allen West. Perhaps you favor precisely that, Tecumseh, perhaps you don't. But that is not speculation or conjecture but the concrete experience of the last two years. And those facing the brunt of it, from Palin to West, through a Perry or a Gingrich, have no illusion about this. Their experience is not concrete enough for you?
Your "or whether Romney is personally involved in this (sounds rather ludicrous to me), are matters of speculation" misses two points.
First, Romney doesn't have to personally lead the charge, he can let his lieutenants do it. And his lieutenants sure are. That is not speculation. It is Romney's man that is leading the redistricting. Not Gingrich's, not even Rubio's. Romney's.
Second. There is too much "aligning of coincidences and interests" going on for the word "ludicrous", in this context, to be anything other than what it itself describes. It is, even, ridiculous.
West has openly supported anyone who is opposed to Romney from the Right. He supported Gingrich, as he did Cain, and Perry before. West has made it clear who he's for. From Romney's campaign that has made it a goal proud enough to tweet on to not merely win, but to destroy Gingrich, it is far from ludicrous that that sort of animus will not be confined to the personality of Gingrich.
After the fact, of course, once Our Boy Romney achieves the Impossible Dream of seeing Obamakles reelected, there will a discovery of when and how and on whom concrete was applied and on why the poor suckers were sent down 5 fathoms deep. There is something very concrete about postmortems.
Of course I prefer Allen West to Scott Brown -- though, as you know, West would have 0 chance of being elected in Mass (Brown did it a couple of years ago, but chances are slim he can repeat that feat -- we'll probably get back to an out-and-out Lefty).
Now, I have no idea what the intra-GOP politics are down there in Florida, but it looks like, say, Rubio is doing rather well. Also, as the Post piece says,
Republicans have crafted a map on which they at least have a chance to win both new seats and hold all of their current seats, which would give them a 21 to 6 advantage in the delegation.
Sounds pretty good to me.
Winning the new 9th district south of Orlando will be very hard, and West’s reelection — despite his very strong fundraising — will be difficult as well.
OK, that's a problem, and I hope they will amend things -- this is still work in progress, after all. I agree, this stinks -- but why go nuclear over this matter, instead of trying to fix it? Politics is the art of the possible. If such a relatively small (and fixable) matter leads to a huge conflict, what about the far more difficult and intractable matters we face as a nation? Are we simply sinking into a morass of acrimonious recriminations?
Update, from Manjarres, the very guy who started the story:
While the conservative movement’s distrust of Romney is both valid and understandable, it is straining credulity to begin to believe that Mitt Romney or his presidential campaign are in any way attempting to “screw over” Congressman Allen West in the redistricting process here in Florida, and this certainly applies to Representative Weatherford as well…
Is another presidential campaign(s) or political action committees fueling this media frenzy about Romney and his supporters in a last minute attempt to muck up the waters enough to make a difference in the Florida primary election and beyond?
In summary, do I believe that the ‘higher’ authorities in Florida’s Legislature struck a backroom deal that would benefit their future political aspirations and give the stiff-arm to Congressman Allen West? My answer is a resounding ‘Yes.’
Or, as Allahpundit sums up:
In other words, he thinks someone wants West out but that it’s unlikely Romney or Weatherford is the prime mover.
To put it another way: I think I deserve a Harpoon for making the right call on this one: yes, some unfortunate backroom backstabbing, but no Chicago-style Mitterdammerung. Not by a mile.
Now that the story has been aired (good for these guys for drawing attention to it), I hope those maneuvers will be reversed, and we get back to business.
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