Knowing what we know about Allen West, the thought of him being in Congress should scare anyone. Still, the Florida Democratic Party crossed a line when it released his Social Security number in an attack flyer.
West, a retired Army colonel and YouTube sensation running against Rep. Ron Klein, was hit with a tax lien — since paid — in 2005, and the state party attacked him for it and other financial problems in a mailer sent out to 22nd District voters over the weekend.
The piece featured a photo of an IRS document showing the tax lien — and while West’s address was blacked out, his Social Security number and his wife’s Employment Identification Number were clearly visible.
The state party calls this an "oversight." Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! This is despicable and unacceptable, and whoever forgot to redact it needs to be fired. We condemned this sort of thing when a Repub did it three years ago, and this should be equally condemned.
For those who don't know, this is very similar to a stunt Virginia Repubs pulled back in 2007. Then-State Senator Jeannemarie Devolites-Davis (the wife of former congressman Tom Davis) sent out an attack flyer against her Dem opponent, Chap Petersen. It contained a financial disclosure form, but whoever put the flyer together didn't redact his phone number, address and the names of his wife and daughters. That stunt proved to be the final nail in Devolites-Davis' coffin, and Petersen handed her head to her in the election.
The Klein campaign has made clear it had nothing to do with this, and has gotten assurances that corrective action will be taken by the state party. However, so far the Florida Dems are off to a bad start.
The state Democratic Party called West’s claims about his children "bizarre" and called his concern about the mailer "another moment of West's paranoia."
Sorry, but wouldn't some of us react the same way? It doesn't matter what party you are--this is wrong. Just wrong.