Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) is lending his name and support to Samuel Joe Wurzelbacher, the House candidate in Ohio better known as "Joe the Plumber."
West announced his endorsement in a fundraising pitch and Web video released by Wurzelbacher's campaign to unseat Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), who is seeking her 16th term in the House.
"He's a blue-collar worker who loves his country and has the courage to stand up to the liberal elites and the mainstream media," West said. "I look forward to having an ally like Joe in Congress because he is going to shake up the Washington establishment and drive the political class crazy."
In the video, filmed with Wurzelbacher outside in the Capitol, West said Congress needed common-sense Americans who have a "burning desire to restore this republican, to recommit to our principles and values that make us great and exceptional."
Wurzelbacher faces a tough race in a Democratic-leaning district, but has been closing the money gap on Kaptur, who had to spend heavily in the primary to defeat Rep. Dennis Kucinich, another Ohio Democrat drawn into the same district as Kaptur by GOP mapmakers.
West has attracted attention in recent weeks for saying that there are about 80 House Democrats who are actually members of the Communist Party. West also lashed out Monday on Facebook at guests who were "laughing and living it up" at the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner amid what he called an eroding constitutional republic.
