Up until now, the majority of the pushback against the GOP leadership has come from Christian conservatives who believe — correctly in my opinion — that the real reason for the attack on Akin is fear that the official Republican position against abortion even in cases of rape is a losing position with voters.
I have been saying for a month now that Akin’s comment was really stupid, but the attack on Akin is all out of proportion to the original offense.
Until Newt Gingrich stepped in, it looked like the Missouri senate race was going to turn into a situation where conservative Christians were left on their own, and basically were going to have to raise money on our own, on a national basis, to replace normal national Republican funding.
Gingrich getting involved is a game changer. Having Mike Huckabee and James Dobson support Akin was important, but not surprising. Gingrich's support sends an entirely different and very important message.
I have defended and provided evidence for Gingrich's personal faith in the past, and also argued that a Christian conservative can legitimately vote for Gingrich because the Romans 13 standards for civil office and the example of King David show that we should not strictly apply the personal family life standards of I Timothy and Titus, which are qualifications for pastors, elders and deacons, to those serving in civil office. Gingrich's personal faith is not the issue. Regardless of his personal faith, during the primary election, he got identified as the main antagonist of Christian conservatives in the ultimately unsuccessful attempt to stop Mitt Romney. If Gingrich has coattails, and I strongly believe that he does, his involvement will bring an entirely different group of people who are mad at the Republican leadership into the fight for Akin.
It is no secret that I did not support Gingrich's campaign until Rick Santorum dropped out, but then said Gingrich was our last option to stop Romney. I am very glad to see that Gingrich is willing to support Todd Akin — and his support could be a very important signal turning on financial spigots that until now have been unavailable to Akin.
This is a very good thing. Christian conservatives and more secular conservatives have much more in common with each other than either of us have with a fair number of people in the Republican establishment, and all of us have more in common with each other than we do with the Democrats.
darrellmaurina, read this on Akin.org. “One thing liberals always try to do is drive a wedge between “social” and “fiscal” conservatives. Well, when you look at the numbers, social conservatives are some of the most fiscally conservative! Check out this chart showing Right to Life ratings next to fiscally conservative National Taxpayer Union (NTU) ratings and LIKE if you believe fiscal issues ARE social issues and vice versa! Todd Akin”
Chart is on his site.
Newt needed to get the hell out of the way. Lead, follow or leave. He did none of the above - and the result was Romney.
It’s nice to see Newt come out to help Akin - but let’s be honest here, would we not be better off without Romney at the top of the ticket?
Is Santorum also backing Akin? I thought I read he is.
Santorum said Akin is a good man that made a dumb comment but he thinks Akin should stay in. http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/08/28/santorum-defends-good-man-todd-akin/