I think of him as neither. He was and is an effective leader. He made a mistake in the heat of combat. Can any of us say we might not do the same? I visited his web site and liked what I read about him and his positions on the issues. The voters in his district seem to like him since they elected him - but we must keep in mind that the voters in Brooklyn still support Anthony Weiner.

Thus far Alan West has not distinguished himself (something very hard for a freshman to do) nor embarrassed himself and those around him. I say it's time to withhold judgement and let the people of his district be the judges.

On a side note, the shape of his district is convoluted, to put it mildly. I do not know what can be done to eliminate Gerrymandering but hope it can be done in at least our children's lifetime. The only states where it is not done are those with only one representative.