Newly elected Rep. Allen West says he wants to join the Congressional Black Caucus. So far, the Republican has not been warmly embraced.

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. -- The libretto of this operatic election season, understandably promoted by Democrats and unsurprisingly sung by many in the media, is that Republicans have sown the seeds of November disappointments by nominating candidates other than those the party's supposedly wiser establishment prefers. This theory is inconvenienced by two facts: South Carolina's Nikki Haley and Tim Scott.