Allen West, a Republican candidate for the swing seat of the 22nd Congressional District in Florida, is making a bold declaration against the party becoming more open to moderation.
“There are three words I hate to hear used. I hate big-tent. I hate inclusiveness. And I hate outreach,” West told the Weekly Standard, in a new profile piece. “I think you stand on the principles that make you great, which transcend everybody in America, and people will come to it.”
West previously ran for the seat in 2008, losing to incumbent Democrat Ron Klein by 55%-45%, in a district that Barack Obama carried by 52%-48%.
West is a retired Army colonel, who was forced into his retirement after a 2003 incident in which he, as the Standard puts it, “conducted a harsh interrogation” on an Iraqi police officer, in which West fired his gun near the man’s head.