Accordng to a Miami Herald headline on an AP story, GOP Florida Rep. Allen West's statements have made him 'a top Democratic target':
He's a darling of tea partiers but Democrats see him as a polarizing figure whose words will convince independents and moderate Republicans that he's too extreme. They're calling him one of their top national targets."Truth should never be outspoken, truth should be truth. Now if there are people that don't want to accept it and understand it, they've got problems within themselves," West said.
But Steve Israel, the New York congressman who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said West goes too far.
"This is an example of where the extremist record actually meets the extremist rhetoric and we look forward to inviting everyone to examine the rhetoric and the record and deciding if either is working for them in solving their problems," Israel said.
Some of the statements in question include West's infamous battle with DNC Chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who's been known to throw several highly partisan verbal jabs during her time in Congress, and the following statements mentioned in the article:
His response after he was asked at a town hall meeting how many members of Congress are "card-carrying Marxists." West replied, "There's about 78 to 81 members of the Democratic Party that are members of the Communist Party."- Saying, "If Joseph Goebbels was around, he'd be very proud of the Democrat Party, because they have an incredible propaganda machine." Goebbels was Adolph Hitler's propaganda minister.
- His comments about liberal activist women. "All of these women that have been neutering American men and bringing us to the point of this incredible weakness ... let them know that we are not going to have our men become subservient," he said.
- Saying that black Democratic leaders are like plantation owners overseeing black voters like they were slaves. "I'm here as the modern day Harriet Tubman to lead people on the underground railroad away from that plantation into a sense of sensibility," he said.
Does West regret any of it?
"No. Nothing. Absolutely not," he said.
He also believes that Democrats are targeting him because they're afraid he gives black voters a reason to consider Republican candidates. In most elections, about 90 percent of black voters support Democrats.
"I'm a threat to what the Democrat Party stands for. Why would they want to attack a 51-year-old, African-American who has served in the United States military for 22 years?" West said. "Been married for 23 years, has a wife who's accomplished - an MBA and a PhD - and two very exceptional daughters. Now what the heck do they want to attack that for? I think it's one simple thing. They fear that. They fear that voice and that's all there is to it, and I think that's a shame."