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MindMover

(5,016 posts)
Thu Jul 19, 2012, 04:24 PM Jul 2012

Mr. say anything I want and hope it sticks, up for reelection challenge ...

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — Not far from the beach, Representative Allen West recited the Declaration of Independence at a sweltering Fourth of July fair, lobbing the sentences into the crowd and hoping the gravitas of the words would sink in.

Patrick Murphy, greeting Palm Springs, Fla., residents in July, is locked in a tight battle for Florida's first congressional district with Representative Allen West.

Mr. West, a Republican positioned near the top of the Democrats’ knockout list, is fond of letting words speak for themselves — no parsing, no apologizing, no backtracking. In this era of survey-tested language, he is a verbal street brawler, unflinching in his speech, a trait that has won him the adulation (and the campaign contributions) of conservatives and Tea Party supporters who cheer on his every Westism. He is one of the top fund-raisers among House Republicans, rivaling Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio.

“People are looking for leadership,” said Mr. West, 51, a first-term congressman, in a brief interview as supporters posed for photographs and exchanged a few words. “Principles, pragmatism, passion and leadership: It’s obvious we are representing those values.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/20/us/politics/allen-west-faces-challenge-in-new-florida-district.html?smid=tw-nytimespolitics&seid=auto

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