The Ed Show   |  November 19, 2012

Rep. Allen West won't concede

Two weeks after the election, after his Democratic opponent has declared victory twice, Rep. Allen West still refuses to concede. Now Gov. Rick Scott is taking heat for a move that Florida's top Democrats see as overstepping his bounds. Mitch Ceasar joins Ed Schultz for the latest.

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This content comes from Closed Captioning that was broadcast along with this program.

>>> show." alan west and patrick murphy , he's declared victory twice. already attended the freshman orientation meetings. two weeks after the election, alan west refused to concede after pinning his hopes to st. luci county. now rick scott is taking heat for what democrats are calling improper interference in west's attempt to overturn the election results. a scott appointee ordered a team of auditors to oversee this county and the canvassers. it's a move that had florida 's top democrats sounding the the alarm. debbie wasserman schultz put out a statement saying, "after disenfranchising florida voters by cutting down early voting days and creating extraordinary long lines at polls, governor scott is trying to overturn an election result he disagreed with. governor scott needs to remove himself from the process immediately." . it was announced sunday after getting the state to recount the votes in st. luci county, west lost by a wider margin than before. ironically, alan west , the man who channelled mccarthy by saying they were communists, just can't handle democracy. joining me is chairman of the broward county committee is mitch cesar. crazy things continue to happen down in florida . this patrick murphy has won this election. what is the governor up to?

>> well, you're right. actually, it seems patrick murphy has won it twice, literally. i find this very surprising because the governor was the king of voter suppression . not only in florida , but across the country. he led the way towards suppressing the vote. he's up for a tough reelection. and i'm a little bit surprised because what alan west is asking the governor to do is not solve a legal problem, he's asking to solve a political problem. if republicans really are being truthful and have learned any lessons from the past election, it should be that the american public and certainly florida voters won on a level playing field and the governor has no business in this fight.

>> does he have any legal recourse where he could cause problems here? tomorrow at noon, florida is ready to certify the votes from the district. probably going -- as i understand florida law , if west is going to challenge that after the election is certified, he would have to prove fraud. what about the governor? what legal avenue does the governor have?

>> well, i don't think he has that much. as you know, ex-congressman west resortsed to the court system . he got a recount and is further behind than he was. the governor's abilities here are very small. i would just be very shocked if he goes, as you said, he's going forward. by don't think he can go too far. you know, this is governed. it was a three-county district. it was one type of the voting. . and i think his powers are limited. for a guy facing a tough reelection, i think he's crazy to get involved in this.

>> is this alan west 's ego at this point?

>> well, you know, i think that's exactly it. he reminds me of custer. here's a guy surrounded, doesn't know it, finally figures out that he is, says to his troops, looks like we're surrounded. and they turn to him and they go, what do you mean we? i think they are going to move away from him. the voters of the district show that extremism has now eventually done him in.

>> mitch cesar, great to have you with us.

>>> coming up, for the first time in 50 years, walmart workers are planning a major labor strike . it could impact the biggest shopping day of the year. stay with us.