RACES of the WEEK

Human Events, Jun 16, 2008

Florida 's 22nd District

West vs. Klein

There are two reasons Republicans and conservatives in general throughout Florida's 22nd District are passionate about defeating one-term Democratic Rep. Ron Klein. The first is that, but for freakish circumstances in 2006, clay Shaw would have clung onto the seat he had held since 1980 and gone off to be ranking Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee. But in the worst Republican election year since Watergate in 1974 and when scandal-plagued Rep. Mark Foley (R.-Fla.) was from the neighboring district, Shaw felt the voter fury against all Republicans and lost to Klein by 8,000 votes out of more than 200,000 cast.

The other reason is retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Alien West, a much-decorated U.S. Army veteran who served stints in Iraq and Afghanistan. Earlier this year, West attracted national attention by wrapping up the Republican nomination to oppose Klein. Coupled with their desire to undo Shaw's narrow loss, Republicans were well aware of the strong veteran population in the Fort-Lauderdale-Palm Beach district and rallied early behind West.

If Virginia's Jim Webb symbolized antiwar veterans elected to Congress as Democrats in '06, West is emblematic of the pro-Iraq veterans running on the GOP line in'08. Tough, articulate, a military history buff who spices his defense of the U.S. mission in Iraq with references to Baron von Steuben, West was once criticized for rough handling of a prisonerconduct that resulted in gaining information that almost surely saved Americans.

But rather than recalling that or his two years of training the Afghan army, the GOP nominee gently changes the subject to his differences with opponent Klein on what he feels are key issues: energy ("He voted for the Democrats' energy bill and it's a waste of money"), spending ("He's for that expensive stimulus package-I'm for lower taxes and less spending, period!")

Whether it's as a scuba diver, coach of a track team that won a state championship, or fighting for his country, Alien West has always been a winner. With help from his fellow conservatives, West can win once again-undoing the circumstances of '06 and becoming congressman from Florida's 22nd District in '08.

Alien Wlsst for Congress, P.O. Box 30786, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., 33420; 561-329-2292; allen@allenwestforcongress.com.

Texas' 22nd U.S. House District

Olson vs. Lampson

By any stretch of the political imagination, Texas' 22nd District should not be sending a Democrat to Washington. With about half of its residents in Harris County-where one of the major employers is the Johnson Space Center-the 22nd gave roughly 64% of its votes to George W. Bush in 2004.

So why, people might wonder, does Democrat Nick Lampson represent the 22nd in the House? The answer lies in the '06 election, which was freakish. Although House Republican Leader Tom DeLay was indicted for alleged campaign finance violations in September 05, the longtime congressman from UK 22nd District nonetheless won renomination with 62% of the vote in March of '06. Three months later, DeLay announced his resignation from Congress but, following a protracted court fight launched by Lone Star Democrats, his name was forced to remain on the fall ballot. There was a special election that Democrat Tampson did not contest and that Republican Shelly Sekula Gibbs won with 62% of the vote-and thus got to serve the remaining two months of DeLay's term.

But for the full term, with DeLay's name forced to remain on the ballot, a write-in campaign was the only option for Sekula-Gibbs and she managed to pull only 42% of the vote (actually, quite impressive since her name isn't the easiest to write in). So that's how Lampson, who represented a neighboring district from 1996 until his defeat in '02, made it back to Congress.

During his first stint in Congress, Lampson generally voted the liberal line (lifetime American Conservative Union rating: 21%). In his present incarnation as congressman from a GOP-leaning district, Lampson has not trimmed his sails, compiling an ACU rating of 20%. Most recently, he voted for the $289 billion farm bill with all kinds of subsidies for wealthy farmers (the President vetoed it, but was overridden). Lampson also voted for HR. 800, the notonous Big Labor-backed "card check" bill denying the secret ballot in union elections.

This record is why there is so much enthusiasm among Republican volunteers and small donors for GOP nominee Pete Oison, a U.S. Navy veteran and onetime top aide to Sen. John Comyn (R.-Tex.). A graduate of Rice University and the University of Texas Law School, Olson was commissioned a naval officer on the same day he took his bar exam. In taking on Lampson, the conservative hopeful's message is succinct: strong national security, securing the holders, energy independence ('The best solutions come when government gets out of UK way and American ingenuity is turned loose") and a health care system that permits small businesses to pool together and decrease costs.