Former U.S. Rep. Allen West says nervous Democrats know the disastrous launch of the Affordable Care Act has dramatically tipped the scales in favor of the Republicans' regaining control of the Senate this fall.
"You always look and see what the other side is doing, and they're nervous about it," West told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.
"The fact that you have six Democrat senators coming out and talking about how they're going to fix Obamacare — absolutely, they are concerned," he said Tuesday.
West — a Florida Republican who is out with a new book,
"Guardian of the Republic: An American Ronin's Journey to Faith, Family and Freedom," written with Michele Hickford and published by Crown Forum — compared the White House's boasts about the success of the healthcare plan to a one-sided sports event.
"Let’s imagine this was a sporting event and only one team showed up and no one was in the stands. The scoreboard can say whatever that one team wants it to say because no one's there to challenge it or know," West said.
"We don't know what we don't know as far as the Obamacare numbers. We don't know if it's 6 or 7 million . . . And then, how many of these young people have signed up to defray the cost?"
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West says the true test of the ACA is yet to be determined — but that its prospects are dismal.
"As we go forward now, the real test is going to come about because our doctors are going to accept it, our hospitals are going to accept it," he said.
"What about the doubling and tripling of these insurance premiums for people? You'll hear more stories and, of course, the more negative stories, the more delays, waivers, and exemptions will come out."
In his book, West discusses the core values of Americans and how they are being distorted.
"The path that we're on is not the path of true growth, opportunity, and prosperity, which is what this country has always been about for the past 237 years," he said.
"Right now, the American people need to ask themselves, 'What America do we want? What type of leadership do we want?'''
The lackluster direction of the nation is the perfect time for conservatives to shine, he says.
"It's important for the conservative side to really be able to show an agenda that takes people forward but not just the message, but also an image, a persona, a type of leader that can make the connection with the American people no matter where you're from, no matter where you came from to this great nation," West said.
Another part of his book addresses the conservatism of African-Americans.
"We need to take that message there just the same as in the Hispanic community. One of the great places we can make [strides] with the black community right now is to talk about school choice," he said.
"When you look at the fact President [Barack] Obama canceled the D.C. school voucher program in April 2009, he has his attorney general going after the school voucher program in Louisiana.
"You look at Mayor [Bill] de Blasio here in New York City going after the Success Academy in Harlem . . . The point [is], we can say, 'Here we are, we're talking about educational opportunity for your children, and this is part of our road map.
"Because the Democrats can't go there, because they're tied to the teachers' union and what have you. That's how we take our principles, but we have to turn it into policy and talk about policy inclusiveness to all of these different communities."
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