Allen West’s Weakness Showing After Talk Host Incident
BY BUDDY NEVINS
Conservative radio host Joyce Kaufman has quit her new job as incoming U. S. Rep. Allen West’s chief of staff after her statements were tied to yesterday’s threat that shut down of Broward Schools.
But what does it say about West that he picked Kaufman in the first place?
Don’t ever think the election of West was anything more than a slap at Barack Obama and his do-nothing puppet, Democrat U. S. Rep. Ron Klein. It was a vote of protest and did not represent support of all of West’s platform.
Instead of realizing this, West embraced the idea that his election was an endorsement of his Tea Party positions.
He chose for his chief of staff the epitome of Tea Party sentiment in South Florida Joyce Kaufman.
You don’t know who Kaufman is? Most people don’t.
Even among the very few who still listen to A.M. radio, Kaufman is a cipher. Kind of like WFTL’s ratings.
Kaufman is a fulminating über-conservative who is so far to the right she needs a crutch to hold her up.
She has a small cadre of True Believers who tune-in daily.
A majority of conservatives probably pick Rush Limbaugh during the midday hours. Others listen to music or Sirius/XM satellite radio or I-Pods.
Kaufman is not really a big factor in the media of South Florida.
Not only that, but Kaufman’s views are out of touch with South Florida, which is overwhelming Democratic or moderate Republicaneven in West’s district.
Approximately the same part of South Florida that elected West elected much more moderate Republicans state Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater and incoming state Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff.
So why did West pick Kaufman?
She has no Capitol Hill experience that I know of. She has no management experience that I know of.
Her public positions and her high profile are too polarizing for staff members, who ideally should be colorless non-entities.
She is simply an entertaining talk host with a long history in South Florida.
West apparently looked in the mirror and liked what he saw — Joyce Kaufman, a clone of his Tea Party views.
Now that’s she’s quit the job see the Miami Herald here for how she embarrassed West with her inflammatory statements before even joining his staff maybe West can hire an administrative or political professional as chief of staff.
Maybe it is about time that West got serious about being a congressman and finding a stafffor everybody in his district.
November 11th, 2010 at 4:47 pm
Good article Buddy but will fall on deaf ears.
Congressman-elect West is a joke of all jokes. As a veteran, I can tell you that when me or my brothers listened to him speak, you just wanted to reach out and slap the man.
He won for the reason you stated — not on his merits, but on anger towards Washington and Congressman Klein (snoring just listening to him speak).
We republicans could have put up a box of pop tarts to run against Klein and would have won this year.
Instead, we put up a nutjob who has shown no judgment already.
As Bob Norman wrote today, he knew that West would provide fodder for the blogs, but who knew he’d be doing it from day 1.
November 11th, 2010 at 5:32 pm
You will find many who believe that a cheap AM radio is a substitute for actually solving problems in the real world.
Did Steve Kane and his sidekick on the other cheap AM radio dial enjoy this after they were “Left Behind”? I could not tell this morning since the show sounded like it was broadcast on tincans with string.
Klein on the other hand ran a horrible campaign with ZERO excitment. At least West had more people with energy and signs up in Broward County.
Klein did something I never saw Clay Shaw or Wexler do when they were my congressmam. If you ever attended a Shaw or Wexler functrion or were in their office, they both had energetic staffers who were what one could call “cute”. Klein had some non office meeetings with his district in local civic buildings. AT the one I went to he sent a very angry woman to be there and be very curt and nasty to people if they dare asked or said something which was not on the explicit written agenda. She reminded myself and others of that older angry HS teacher we had who took out all of her frustrations on us with a never ending sour puss.
I was counting on Klein to finally get catastrophic home ins set up for the USA to reduce premiums and spread risk. Now it seems that the only risk I will be seeing is on how many times West will blow his top in anger and show the country why we are Floriduh.
I want to have West meet my college bound disabled son to explain why you need the ADA act and not get rid of the pre existing clause in the new heatlh bill, but I am afraid he might pull a pistol on me to get me to change my mind
Oh, I am an immigrant, so get the rope ready too .
November 11th, 2010 at 6:52 pm
Steve Kane and his sidekick revere you too much. West is more than you give him credit for. Not just anyone could have unseated Klein. You were against West from the start. This is the beginning for West, not the end.
November 11th, 2010 at 7:54 pm
As long as someone follows West around with a video camera, he will surely do himself in and 2 years is his limit.Maybe less. He is a egomaniac who now thinks God has annointed him. He is just a lowly freshman in the House of Reps and will not get much more than patronizing from the DC GOP Elite. The man is a complete lunatic. He will surely often be a parody on Jon Stewart, Colbert and SNL…….and So. Fla Blogs.
He and that crazy woman Bachman will probably fall in love. LOL
November 11th, 2010 at 10:17 pm
I’m embarrassed that Allen West ran as a veteran.Believe me that there are many veterans who can’t stomach Allen West and he has no monopoly on patriotism. West is a war monger and we’ve had enough of them. People like him got us in Iraq and Vietnam, a war I am very familiar with.
November 12th, 2010 at 2:25 am
ok who shall the dems groom for his job???
November 12th, 2010 at 10:46 am
All excellent points, Buddy and commenters. However, West’s term hasn’t even started yet. Try to temper your disdain until you have something to actually criticize. I think Kaufman is horrid, however, I wouldn’t give her the light of day in this blog, Bob Norman’s, the Sentinel or anywhere else – you’re just giving her the ultimate reward: publicity, recognition, legitimacy. I’m not convinced that her being named cheif-of-staff wasn’t a shrewd publicity stunt, along with a well-orchestrated threat and a corresponding over reaction by the police and school board. Really, who is dumb enough to e-mail a threat? Discuss.
November 12th, 2010 at 12:47 pm
What a bunch of crap. This woman gave Mr. West countless hours of free publicity on WFTL. Aren’t we all glad the FCC has relaxed the rules on that issue? Then he pays her back by giving her the Chief of Staff Job. Then she realizes that it’s cold in DC in the winter and doesn’t really want to go there, and he is better served by her continuing to monopolize WGTL’s afternoon drive-time airwaves by constantly promoting him. They both suck!!
November 12th, 2010 at 12:49 pm
I know.. it’s WFTL. Typo. But they both still suck and WFTL should have their license yanked.
November 12th, 2010 at 1:29 pm
I have another theory…Joyce and West are having a relationship beyond the professional…if you know what I mean…she is coming unglued…she had the opportunity of a lifetime and blew it and she knows it…West better be afraid of what she may say…he never should have aligned with this pathological lunatic in the first place.
November 12th, 2010 at 3:55 pm
You are right.
I never heard of Kaufman before. I never met anybody who has listened to am radio. Maybe old people listen. Nobody I know.
November 13th, 2010 at 3:11 pm
Buddy,
You have become an ARCHIE BUNKER clone! Maybe you should grab a job with the next Klein campaign as their POLITICAL STRATEGIST? OOPS! FORGOT..You have NO EXPERIENCE IN THAT VENUE..you are a mere blogger now. NO WAY COULD A MERE COMMENTATOR BE QUALIFIED FOR ANOTHER PR POSITION!!
Why the ad hominem homily? What happened to your investigative talent? Where is the backstory here?
Let me assist. As you know but failed to disclose:
1. Joyce Kaufman IS a chameleon. She is THEATRE: She was a FLAMING LIBERAL until she moved to 850. Local Conservative talk was just about absent here, except for Kane. She began with WFTL 1400 as opposition to the theatric conservatives, Steve Kane and Rick Seiderman, her oxymoron, deceased mentor. Joyce pushed her way into Kane’s lair, working for free in the overnight spot around 1992.
Joyce was working as a restaurant MANAGER at the time.
2. Joyce Kaufman is a survivor. The daughter of a Puerto Rican mom and a Jewish p.o. work dad from Queens, she was caregiver to her Alzheimer’s mom until her death in May and her dad passed on July 4th., 2 months apart. Her 2 kids, products of Broward Public School District, went on to Columbia (daugher is a shrink now) and Harvard and Yale Law (son is an LA big whig lawyer)
HOW HAVE YOUR KIDS FARED??
3. Joyce would have changed the perceptions on Capitol Hill. She would have been a GREAT asset to Klein and to Boehner and Bachmann. Just like Scott Brown – Ma. THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGIN’ & you appear to want no part of that.
4. Now, how did the self-aggrandizing demeaning, sarcastic, insipid, obnoxious Rachel Maddow acquire those 7-3-10 independence rally snippets that PRECIPITATED AND SET OFF THE BROWARD SCHOOL LOCKDOWN?
Could it be a regular MSNBC guest provided it, a person who holds a vendetta against WEST… a friend of Klein’s who has a propensity for creating political divisive chaos? It was the tape Klein used in all of his attack ad. The tape backfired then and IT WILL BACKFIRE AGAIN…BE PATIENT!
5. This tape CONTINUES TO BE intended to bring West down, THE new national figure, not Joyce Kaufman. Could it be a conspiracy involving Debbie Wasserman, which backfired on her own district?
NOW WOULDN’T THAT BE SWEET! DO YA KNOW WHAT THE PENALTY IS TO CREATE A RUSE…A HOAX..ESCALATING INTO A THREAT OF A TERRORIST PLOT??
Buddy, time to SIT BACK, be introspective and use those investigative talents of yours to seek the TRUTH…
or have you lost your motivation…or is it all simply too banal for you?
This blog was a face-value surface story not the meat of the story behind the story.
Remember Buddy, PEOPLE IN GLASS HOUSES SHOULDN’T THROW STONES. YOU HAVE YOUR OWN SKELETONS…
November 16th, 2010 at 1:57 pm
She did an abrupt about-face from left to right, so in order to establish her right-wing bona-fides, Kaufman endorsed Charles Murray’s postulate, which states that blacks are genetically inferior to whites in terms of intelligence. ‘They have no reasoning ability’ she chortled, upon reading Murray’s racist tome,’The bell curve’.
Kaufman is a ‘no-talent’ opportunist, and her lowly-rated ‘show’ is a perfect example of the unchallenged dissemination of hate which now permeates the public airwaves. BRING BACK THE FAIRNESS DOCTRINE NOW F.C.C.
March 27th, 2011 at 4:18 pm
I am greately worried regarding the upcoming election. With what is occuring in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Middle East (not to mention the U.S. economy) we seriously need a superior leader. I’m convinced that President Obama or any of the Republican challengers so far have the experience or skills it takes to do the job the way it needs to be done. Being president of the United States is an astonishingly challenging job. Do you think there is any man or woman out there with the experience, skill, and moral conviction to do the job?
June 30th, 2011 at 12:33 pm
It’s much easier to undesratnd when you put it that way!