Allen West Kicks Open the Door for 2016 Presidential Run

Former Congressman Allen West set off a wave of speculation on Tuesday when he appeared on Sean Hannitys radio show -- and said he was open to running for president in 2016. The Corner over at National Review has the details.

West has certainly been sending up trialballoonsabout running for president as Sunshine State News reported last week. Its tough to imagine West winning the Republican presidential nomination. While he points out that Lincoln only served one term in Congress before being elected president, West fails to remember that Lincoln was seen as a safe-chase and moderate in 1860 -- especially when compared to the likes of Salmon P. Chase and William Henry Seward. Nobodys ever considered West a moderate or a politically safe option.

Still, if its tough to imagine West getting the nomination, its easy to see him having a major impact on the Republican race. The likes of Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, Gary Bauer and Alan Keyes have greatly impacted recent Republicanpresidentialraces. For example, Keyes drew enough social conservatives from Pat Buchanan in 1996 to let Bob Dole win the Iowa caucus. A loss in Iowa -- a state he had carried over George Bush and Pat Robertson in 1988 -- followed by another one in New Hampshire would have doomed Dole and paved the way for another candidate (Lamar Alexander, in all probability) to win the nomination. Candidates like Bachmann and Cain steered Mitt Romney to be more conservative during the endless procession of debates and campaign appearances in 2011.

If West jumps in the 2016 field, he wont have much of a chance to win. But he will have the opportunity to shape the race and the GOP for better or for worse.