After two weeks of battling against a machine stacked against him, Congressman Allen West(R-FL) conceded the race for District 18 in Florida on Tuesday. They had to find a way to get the count to within the 0.5% required by Florida statute to trigger an automatic full recount, and after analysis, they no longer believed that would be possible. As West noted, there were substantial irregularities. There was a good deal of evidence that there were shenanigans with the vote itself, as well as with the count, but the early vote recount that completed Sunday morning, but was not uploaded to the state before the noon deadline would not have made enough of a difference to trigger the full recount.
You can read the statement of concession here.
He appeared briefly on Fox to share his decision, H/T BarracudaBrigade:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=PcuBJoIsovM#!]
West fought a hard race, and the volunteers who worked tirelessly to see to it that there was a fair process in place should be lauded. The fact is that after the redistricting, it was going to be an uphill battle, and as many have noted, that really sewed the seeds of this defeat. In the redistricting shuffle, Col. West drew the short straw. That should be as disconcerting as anything about this race.
A very sorry state of affairs. Theivery and disenfranchisement. The ultimate voter suppression. Too bad Atlas Shrugged II bombed at the box office. I’m ready to head for the Gulch. She may not have meant to be, but Rand was prophetic.
Deciding to live according to true conservative principles despite the status quo is like Dagny and Hank before their conversions. Live honorably and creatively only to be used and enslaved. In my opinion, in lieu of a real Gulch, our Gulch is a new third party of the people and not the PPC and free of the elites and their secret societies. Usurpers and frauds must be kept out of a pristine Gulch.
Well just watch what happens for a few months. I too don’t feel too much like offering hope myself. But wait, my schools were bomb shelters in the ’50’s. Eat right, don’t drink too many big gulps in New York its probably the KoolAid, conservatives chance will come again. Maybe from ground zero up, all political elite not trickled but melted down. Dejected for sure, but not beaten.
What an HONORABLE man! God has some BIGGER things ready for his life, say POTUS or VPOTUS or how about SOD!
It may be that God has other plans for Col. West, beyond Congress. He does not seem like a man who will shut up and go away. If nothing else, this has been a public demonstration of how the GOP uses and then destroys members they consider a threat to their power.
Roll Call describes Boehner’s clamping down on “unruly” members of Congress (aka. Conservatives) http://www.rollcall.com/news/a_good_week_to_be_aligned_with_boehner_as_speaker_flexes_muscle-219240-1.html Support Tea Party Caucus members still left in Congress, like Louis Gohmert and Michele Bachmann, who are trying to defend the Constitution. They’re beset on both sides, by the Democrats and their Republican collaborators.
It seems to me there is so much evidence of vote fraud. If Romney really wanted to help his country, he had the money and the powerful friends to do what West did. Even if not successful, it would bring attention to the issue, and perhaps Dems would be more careful in future.
We are on our own, Third Party Now!
Even with all the discord, disarray, disappointment, and division even in families, I wish all a Happy Thanksgiving. Be back tomorrow bitter with guns and religion. Not necessarily a :).