Florida Dems send mailer with GOP candidate's Social Security number

The campaign of Republican Allen West is fuming over a negative mailer sent by the Florida Democratic Party revealing West's Social Security number.

West, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, poses a much tougher challenge to Rep. Ron Klein (D-Fla.) this fall after losing to him by a 10-point margin in 2008.  

The mailer highlighted an old tax lien against West, but the accompanying documentation included in the mailer failed to black out West's Social Security number and the employer identification number for his wife's business. 

The state Democratic Party has called the error "an inadvertent mistake," but West pinned the blame on his Democratic opponent in a statement. 

"Ron Klein has clearly crossed a line," West said. "I'm not yet sure the potential damage that might come to my wife and me, and it makes me sick to think of what could happen to my daughters. My entire family is at risk of identity theft."

The error has proven to be a big distraction for Klein's campaign even though it had nothing to do with the mailer. The campaign released a new ad Monday using a line of attack that Democrats have repeatedly hit Nevada's Sharron Angle (R) with this cycle. 

The 30-second spot calls West too extreme for Florida, highlighting comments the candidate made labeling the federal government "tyrannical."

"How extreme is Alan West?" asks the ad's narrator. It then cuts to a clip of West telling supporter, "You must be well informed and well-armed, because this government that we have right now is a tyrannical government."