The State of the Akin-McCaskill Race (Akin out of money?)

National Review Online ^ | 09/07/12 | Ramesh Ponnuru

[RegulatorCountry]

And just how many terms has Akin been in Congress? Six. Six!

Amazingly stupid remarks on your part. No one retains a House seat for that long by being “tone deaf,” whether you agree with them or not. You obviously do not.

... which gets us down to brass tacks, you want a moderate.

[Uncle Chip]

I don’t care about what Rove thinks.

You apparently do because you want what he thinks.

Akin should have gotten out at the first.

Why??? Because those who didn't vote for him and didn't want him to win demanded it???

Not because he misspoke. But because he revealed himself (and his team) as woefully incompetent.

Is that the same team that won him the primary and brought his numbers back up in the polls???

I’m sure Mrs. Akin nixed any possibility of that.

And that's relevant why???

Now that he’s in, it’s incumbent upon us to put McCaskill into retirement. And when he loses by double digits on election night ....

Well for someone with an incumbency upon them you sure do have a losing attitude.

[the808bass]

Pinochet would win in that district with an R after his name. I live in the adjacent district and we had a Carnahan for quite a few terms. Because he had a D after his name. Do you not understand how most House Districts work.

[katiedidit1]

Akin has won several elections in MO and he won them by large margins. He is a strong conservative. On the other hand we have a man favored by the moderate republicans running for president that is not a conservative.
Akin has a masters in divinity and a degree in engineering. He voted against Bush's Leave No Child Behind, Medicare D despite pressure and late night phone calls to go along. Strong convictions? yes. Right on his nay votes? yes. Won elections in MO by large margins? yes. The GOP had a knee jerk reaction and if Akin loses they are responsible too.

[Reily]

I don't agree ! There are plenty of examples right and left of long serving “Tone Deaf Congress Critters. (Note I include the Senate in this statement! Look at Biden’s career for Pete's Sake!) I think Akin had the good fortune and misfortune to have a district that was very safe for a conservative candidate. It never challenged him to develop the political skills simultaneously maintain his principles and successfully express it to a wider audience. It looks like he has learned from this experience. I hope so!
He needs to stay away from unscripted media venues, smile & kiss babies. Let McCaskill’s natural loathsomeness defeat her.

I will say this having your son & wife as your “professional” campaign staff is simply unprofessional! Where is he going to get unbiased opinions and strategies? Not from a son & wife ! (If this is true I found it difficult to believe!)
It also looks like the movie caricature of some crooked politician. The crooked governor from the movie “Brother Where Art Thou” comes to mind!

[the808bass]

Akin will get almost 100% of the Republican voters - 40%.

He will pick up a portion of independents - 3 to 4%.

McCaskill will win by double digits. You don’t win elections by alienating your base and you don’t win elections by alienating independents. Akin did the latter.

You continue to focus the blame on GOPe. It’s the independents who will decide the election. And it was Akin who went on Jaco’s show. When his staff was asked why they bothered to do his show, they responded he was “fair” to them in the primary. That’s a rookie mistake from a 6-term Congressman.

He’s a principled man who is a crappy politician who is running for a political job.

[reasonisfaith]

This is all about political correctness, and there’s only one right answer to it.

When a good conservative candidate is targeted by the left for voicing perfectly legitimate speech, conservatives and the GOP should circle the wagons and go all out in support of the candidate, including money bombs and funding increases from the top levels of the GOP.

What I’ve seen is a tail-between-the-legs surrender by people like Limbaugh and all the talk show hosts, including Hannity, who parrot him.

Everyday conservatives like us should go back to our independence of mind and get ourselves unstuck from this mess of political correctness.

[the808bass]

Now you’re just lying. I already posted the Roll Call for Medicare D. He voted for it.

Akin won his primary for his District by 1%. That’s the real election. Check out his district’s election this November. His replacement will “win big.” That has more to do with demographics than her political skill. All you have to do is keep your nose clean.

[RegulatorCountry]

It’s McCaskill or Akin. You continue to undermine Akin. Therefore you are a de facto McCaskill supporter. Dispense with the rationalizations.

[katiedidit1]

You are right. My mistake.

[the808bass]

I’m undermining Akin by posting facts on Free Republic? Is his campaign allergic to facts? You’re a funny cat.

[katiedidit1]

YOU are the liar. I am NO fan of McCaskills by defacto or any other means. Akin is a good conservative. I am behind him 100%. The election is between Claire and Todd..period. We know where they both stand and the choice is clear.
I posted the vote on Medicare D was my mistake. He has won other eelections by large margins excluding the last one in which 3 candidates competed and that is a fact.

[katiedidit1]

Elections and most have been won by good margins.Elections In 2000, Akin ran in the Republican primary election to fill the seat vacated by U.S. Representative Jim Talent who was running for governor. Light voter turnout caused by heavy rains helped Akin win the tight, five-way primary by just 56 votes; he defeated two better-known candidates, former St. Louis County Executive Gene McNary and State Senator Franc Flotron.[2][19][20] On the night he won the primary, Akin said, "My base will show up in earthquakes."[14] He defeated Democratic State Senator Ted House in the general election, winning 55 percent of the vote.[21] He never faced another contest even that close, and was reelected five times. In 2010, Akin won re-election with 67.9% of the vote.[22] He had been challenged for the seat by Democratic nominee Arthur Lieber, Libertarian nominee Steve Mosbacher, and write-in candidate Patrick M. Cannon.

[katiedidit1]

Elections and most have been won by good margins.Elections In 2000, Akin ran in the Republican primary election to fill the seat vacated by U.S. Representative Jim Talent who was running for governor. Light voter turnout caused by heavy rains helped Akin win the tight, five-way primary by just 56 votes; he defeated two better-known candidates, former St. Louis County Executive Gene McNary and State Senator Franc Flotron.[2][19][20] On the night he won the primary, Akin said, "My base will show up in earthquakes."[14] He defeated Democratic State Senator Ted House in the general election, winning 55 percent of the vote.[21] He never faced another contest even that close, and was reelected five times. In 2010, Akin won re-election with 67.9% of the vote.[22] He had been challenged for the seat by Democratic nominee Arthur Lieber, Libertarian nominee Steve Mosbacher, and write-in candidate Patrick M. Cannon.

[RegulatorCountry]

The paucity of facts undermining McCaskill in your replies is readily apparent to everyone but you. Tone deaf much?

[Uncle Chip]

He will pick up a portion of independents - 3 to 4%.

Ohhh Please. Independents in Missouri tend to be more conservative than even Republicans. And 70% of voters turned out to vote down Obamacare in Missouri, aka ClaireCare, and that 70% firgure included a whole lot of Independents and a even a bevy of Democrats.

You've been living in Carnahan's shadow too long to know what's going on in the sunshine.

[the808bass]

It’s not “all” about political correctness. It’s about communicating your values to voters. There’s millions of people who are extremely principled people who aren’t politicians because they’re poor communicators. You cannot be a successful politician and be a poor communicator.

And I’ll let you in on a secret, this interview was in the can for several days and Akin’s team didn’t get out in front of it.

It’s a bumbling team of tone-deaf nepotism.

[the808bass]

By 3-4%, I meant of the total electorate. Not 3-4% of independents.

[Uncle Chip]

By 3-4%, I meant of the total electorate. Not 3-4% of independents.

That's still too low, given that 20% of the electorate in Missouri are Independents -- and 100% of them voted against ClaireCare and most will do so again in November.

[John D]

No, he didn't count on dems to win.

Well he would have never won without their support. Do you think he will get their support in Nov? I don't. If he would just think about the country instead of just himself the Republicans would definitely pick this seat up and he could run again later. With him continually thinking of only himself we will lose this seat.