I THINK I KNOW WHAT ALLEN WEST IS GOING TO DO, AND IT ISN'T THIS

Yeah, I suppose this could be Allen West's next act:

Though he has yet to concede, U.S. Rep. Allen West, a former Army lieutenant colonel and Republican firebrand, narrowly lost his re-election bid last week.

So what's in the cards for the coastal Florida congressman after his lame-duck duties are done? Sue Everhart, chairman of the Georgia Republican party, said Monday she would love it if West, an Atlanta native and Grady High School grad, returned to his roots.

"I would be glad to have him come back to Georgia and at some point run here," Everhart told my AJC colleague Daniel Malloy....

Returns show that West's Democratic challenger, Patrick Murphy, edged out the incumbent with a winning margin of less than 1 percent.

But I think he's just going to lick his wounds and do a lot of appearances on Fox. Maybe the military contractor he used to work for will give him some sort of sinecure.

And then, in 2016, he's going to run for president.

Run for president? When he couldn't even win reelection in his own congressional district? Well, of course -- right-wingers love stories of conservative heroes brought low by the evil liberal juggernaut. Look at how well Rick Santorum did for a while in the 2012 primaries (and he lost his Senate seat in a landslide). Look at how well Newt Gingrich did after resigning in disgrace in 1998.

West is out there right now blaming voter fraud for his loss. He's the perfect wingnut victim. If he runs, I guarantee you that at some point in 2015 or 2016 he'll be polling in the double digits, and will be in the GOP top three.