Tea party star in tight bid for Congress in Fla. (The Col. Allen West vs Ron Klein Race Heats up)

Republican congressional candidate Allen West calls his incumbent Democrat opponent a cretin. To him, the Palestinian president is a gang leader and Islam not a valid religion. He left the military after firing a gun near an Iraqi prisoner's head, talks of launching an attack on Iran, and hopes to topple the American political establishment.

And in a season of backlash against Democrats and incumbents, West may just eke out a win.

The former Army officer faces Rep. Ron Klein for a second time this Election Day after finishing with 45 percent of the vote in 2008, his first run for office. Then, he was outspent more than four-to-one by Klein and faced a wave of Democrats flooding the polls to elect Barack Obama president.

This time, the contest has become a national battleground - one of the three most expensive House races in the country. West has the benefit of fierce anti-incumbent sentiment and has out-raised Klein $4 million to $2.5 million, according to their last reports.

And so, a tea party-fueled campaign war has shaped up here in Florida's 22nd District, which encompasses most of the coastline from Jupiter down through Palm Beach and south to Fort Lauderdale. The Democratic-Republican breakdown is almost exactly even.

Klein, a 53-year-old moderate Democrat seeking his third term, has sought to portray 49-year-old West as an extremist, a label the retired lieutenant colonel rejects but has given his share of material to further.

"With my opponent, it's my way or the highway. You say it loud enough and you say it enough times, then people start to believe it," Klein told an audience of seniors in Coconut Creek. "Well, you know what? If it's a crock of you-know-what it's a crock of you-know-what."

He talks of taking Klein out "behind the woodshed" and giving him a "whooping" and of making the congressman "scared to come out of his house."

Klein was born and raised in Cleveland; his father owned a five-and-ten store and his mother was a schoolteacher. Klein was a lawyer and served in the state Legislature before unseating a 26-year GOP incumbent, Clay Shaw, in 2006.

He has opposed Obama's efforts to end tax breaks for the rich, saying they should be extended at least another year. And in a district with a sizable Jewish constituency, Klein, who himself is Jewish, has been vocal on issues regarding Israel, at times at odds with Obama.

The president appeared this week at a high-dollar Coral Gables fundraiser for the congressman, who he said has done "an unbelievable job" and singling out his support of Israel.

West is seeking the Jewish vote, too, taking a hard line on the Arab world and espousing a view that there is no two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians, and that Israel's borders should be dictated by the Bible.

He says he believes it will soon be time for an attack on Iran, though not its civilian infrastructure.

In his harshest assessment of Islam, he offered this unapologetic commentary: "Islam is a totalitarian, theocratic, political ideology. It is not a religion." And then, on the Palestinian leader: "Mahmoud Abbas isn't the leader of anything else than a gang."

West despises the idea of moderates in politics and Klein's most ardent supporters are in awe of stances the Republican has taken.

Klein supporter Pat Wilhelm, an 80-year-old retiree from Boca Raton, calls West, "An absolute idiot."

In person, West is often subdued in his speech. He calls himself an average guy and plays down his smarts, but often stakes a professorial position, offering a historical view of Muslim extremists and referencing 17th-century philosophers.

Even when met with impassioned critics, as he did at a recent gathering of the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce, he keeps his cool. Under intense questioning from an audience member on his take on the Mideast peace process, West calmly held his ground.

West, who is black, grew up in a military family in Atlanta, the son of inner-city Democrats. He served 20 years in the Army and says he likely still would be serving had he not become embroiled in controversy over his treatment of an Iraqi detainee.

He admitted firing a gun near the detainee's head, threatening to kill him and allowing soldiers to beat him in hopes of scaring the prisoner into revealing details of a purported plot against West and his men. He admitted wrongdoing in a military court, was fined and relieved of his command.

"The Army did what they felt they had to do and I did what I felt I had to do," West said.

West speeches have become YouTube favorites, and many see his Army experience as a positive, saying his actions are evidence of a true patriot.

"He just strikes me as such an honorable person," said Len Gould, a 41-year-old from Boca Raton who is president of a tool manufacturer and who previously voted for Klein. "I've been regretting that since," he said.

The Klein campaign has sought to make an issue of liens on West's house and debts he owed - issues he says he has since resolved. The campaign has noted West has only lived in Florida since 2003, voted for the first time in his life in 2004 and doesn't even live in the district he would represent, which, while out of the ordinary, is not barred. They boast that West's competitor in the Republican primary, David Brady, has endorsed Klein.

West derides all of this as the political establishment grasping at straws to hold unto power.

Tea party kingmaker Sarah Palin gave West her backing early on, though he sidesteps questions of whether she should run for president. His criticisms extend to the GOP, deriding the likes of George W. Bush and John McCain. But it is Klein whom he never seems to run out of words for: "mama's boy," "pathetic liberal" and so on.

Klein is more reserved in responding to West's critiques, calling his charges "ridiculous" and "absurd," and even mustering a concession to his opponent.

For those who don't remember Allen West, he was a Colonel who fought in Operation Iraqi Freedom and is exhibit A of how our government makes it very difficult for our troops to fight the war on terror.

While serving in Taji, Iraq, on August 20, 2003, as commander of the 2d Battalion, 20th Field Artillery Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel West was in charge of an interrogation of a civilian Iraqi police officer who was suspected of having pertinent information regarding attacks on American soldiers in the area. Interrogators had learned that the detainee had information about a planned ambush. When the interrogators were unable to extract the needed important information for some time, LTC West was asked to come try to obtain the important information.

As the detainee continued to hold back the information, LTC West fired his pistol past the detainee's head into a clearing barrel, frightening (but not physically harming) the detainee and getting him to finally give the information. According to Lt. Col. West's sworn statement, the detainee informed West that:

“ [The attack] was to occur Friday morning in Saba al Boor vicinity of the police station by positioned snipers supposedly being brought in from Fallujah. [The detainee] was to ID my vehicle and myself for these rooftop firers. We took this information and the following day established flask CPs and used AH-64s overhead. There was no attack and no further attacks have emanated from the town since the apprehension of [the detainee] and his named associates. ”

At least one man was apprehended as a result of the information obtained through the detainee's interrogation. His home was searched, but no plans for attacks on Americans or weapons were found. Colonel West testified that he did not know whether "any corroboration" of a plot was ever found, adding: "At the time I had to base my decision on the intelligence I received. It's possible that I was wrong about [the detainee,] Mr. Hamoodi."

LTC West, who at the time was just short of having 20 years of service, was charged with violating articles 128 (assault) and 134 (general article) of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. West was processed through an Article 32 hearing in November 2003, where he admitted wrongdoing, was fined $5,000 over two months for misconduct and assault. He then submitted his resignation, and was allowed to retire with full benefits in the summer of 2004.

At a hearing, West was asked by his defense attorney if he would do it again. "If it's about the lives of my men and their safety, I'd go through hell with a gasoline can," he said.

Apparently not knowing West's gun was aimed into a barrel, "Hamoodi cracked and gave information about the planned ambush on West's convoy, thwarting the attack." West said there were no further ambushes on U.S. forces in Taji until he was relieved of his leadership post on October 4."

"After West's resignation was brought to public attention the next fall, he received over two thousand letters and e-mails from the American public offering him moral support. In addition, a letter was drafted to the Secretary of the Army, its signatories being ninety-five members of Congress in West's support.

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