***UPDATE: MARK LEVIN WEIGHS IN***
Tea Party groups are saying that they want to primary Allen West because of his support for the Boehner plan. Allen West says if that’s the case then ‘so be it’, but he’s going to do what he believes is best and not get involved in that kind of “schizophrenia”:
This whole debate has turned everything upside down. There’s no way I would support a primary challenge to Allen West. He’s been rock solid up to this point and I firmly believe he sees the Democrats as the enemy and wants to defeat them as much as anyone. While I disagree with him on this issue, I’d need much more than this to even consider a primary challenge for West.
Look, I’ve got political heroes on both sides of this issue and it’s causing me a bit of angst. This whole debate is frustrating for several reasons but it all stems from having weak leadership. Boehner is a man who runs to compromise like it’s water in a desert and it’s he who has led us to this point. He shows his cards face up from the beginning because it’s part of his belief and philosophy that in negotiations Republicans should “shoot straight” and only say exactly what they want. And the other side plays him because of it. We’ve already seen how that’s worked out for us.
So let’s chill with the talk of primarying Allen West based on his support of the Boehner plan.
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UPDATE: An e-mail from Tea Party Nation chief Judson Phillips (via Hotair):
“A press release has been issued claiming Tea Party Nation supports a primary challenge against Allen West. TPN’s name was used without permission. I will be giving a more detailed statement shortly but neither I nor Tea Party Nation supports a primary challenge against Allen West.”
***
UPDATE: More from Tea Party Nation:
Setting the Record Straight
There is a story in The Hill that a group of Tea Party organizations is threatening a primary challenge against a number of Freshmen Congressmen including Allen West. This story says a press release has been issued with Tea Party Nation supporting an effort to push a primary challenge against Allen West.
Tea Party Nation has NEVER said we want to see a primary challenge against Allen West. West has been a staunch Tea Party supporter and though we strongly disagree with his support of the really terrible John Boehner plan, West has been an overwhelmingly good Congressman and we would be hard pressed to find someone better.
The group that put this press release out used Tea Party Nation’s name without our permission. No one at TPN was shown this press release in advance. Had we been shown that press release, we would have vetoed the use of our name.
We still call for a primary challenge to John Boehner and there maybe some Republicans who deserve a primary challenge, but Allen West is not one of those.
To be absolutely clear, neither Tea Party Nation, nor Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips support this effort.
We specifically repudiate it.
***
UPDATE: Mark Levin weighs in on this with a different perspective:
Allen West is a good man, although we disagree on the debt ceiling issue. What bothers me is an effort like this to enlist him in attacks on the Tea Party. West is not going to be challenged in the primary by any serious conservative group, although others could be, and goading him like this, by a radio host on the wrong side of this issue — who then distributes the interview to bloggers who post it on their sites — does a great disservice to West and rest of us.
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