Word to all lurking Tea Partiers: Being an asshole is NOT an electable quality
For over two years, all I heard from those on the right concerning Allen West was that "liberals can't stand him" or "liberals are scared of him" or "he tells it like it is and liberals can't take it" or "he drives liberals crazy."
Let's get it straight: Allen West was a despicable person, a nasty man with little regard for those who dared cross him. He said people with Obama bumper stickers were "a threat to the gene pool." He said Rep. Keith Ellison, whom he had never previously met, was "the antithesis of the principles upon which this country was founded." He said that people with Co-Exist bumper stickers wanted to "give this country away." He publicly called Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz "vile" and "not a lady," all over a minor policy critique by her. He called 80 members of the House of Representatives "members of the Communist Party." And he said that Democratic Party leaders should "get the hell out of America."
And yes, those words did get me--as a liberal--angry. It infuriated me that a person of his position would be so disrespectful towards others just because they disagreed with him or were of a different religion or mindset.
But here's the thing. In his two year stint as Congressman, virtually all he did was tear down his percieved enemies. Rarely, if ever, did he put up any proposals of his own. Rarely, if ever, did he ever introduce a bill of substantive policy.
Yes, he did drive liberals crazy, for obvious reasons. But that's not an electable virtue. If you speak to independents or even reasonable minded Republicans, they don't care that he drove liberals crazy. Really, they don't. All they knew was that Allen West was acting like an asshole, and that's not an electable quality. He was bound to lose.
So don't be so shocked that your man lost. It's not that America is in decline or that voters "wanted stuff" or that there was some voter fraud conspiracy afoot. It was that the quasi-incumbant was a raging asshole with a hostile temper and an intolerance for anyone across the aisle. And nobody wants that shit in the halls of Congress.
Go ahead and run the likes of Allen West, or Sarah Palin, or Joe Walsh, or Michelle Bachmann. As a Democrat, I'd love it if you do. But don't be so astonished when voters reject them.
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After all his uber wealthy, casino owning alter ego in part II was modeled after Donald Trump, so... 
