Posted on 08/20/2012 3:47:45 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Via BuzzFeed, it’s important that people like Hannity, Coulter, and the boss emeritus are leaning on this guy too, not just Romney and Reince Priebus. Without pressure from all-stars on the right, he can dig in and turn it into a “weak-ass establishment RINOs are selling me out to the Democrats” populist attack on D.C. Republicans. That might be enough to rally grassroots conservatives to his side and keep him in the race, but not enough to prevent him from losing to McCaskill and, just maybe, dragging the ticket down with him. How lucky do you feel? Want to bet the future of repealing ObamaCare on Akin’s ability to not only recover from his theory of the female body’s magical defenses against rape-sperm but to avoid other goofy errors between now and November? John Brunner, who finished second to Akin in the primary, is reportedly already angling to replace him if he drops; Sarah Steelman, who finished within a point of Brunner, is almost certainly interested too, especially since she’d be inoculated from Akin’s comments due to her gender. If the game’s on the line in the late innings and your pitcher’s getting shelled, why not go to the pen while you can? Even the Tea Party Express, imagining another Angle/O’Donnell nightmare scenario in November, is unsparing:
daveweigel✔ @daveweigel
Tea Party Express, which backed Sharron Angle, calls for Akin to go, based on "the lessons we learned in 2010" about bad candidates
20 Aug 12 Reply Retweet Favorite
Akin’s been consistent today about saying he’ll stay in, but I keep seeing reports like this from plugged-in pundits on Twitter:
Richard Grenell@RichardGrenell
Breaking: Senior GOP official: Akin advisors making preparations for a withdrawal tomorrow.
20 Aug 12 Reply Retweet Favorite
Erick Erickson✔ @EWErickson
Just to be clear one more time, consultants involved are telling me Akin will withdraw. Akin & his campaign deny he will withdraw.
20 Aug 12 Reply Retweet Favorite
David Harsanyi@davidharsanyi
Longtime Missouri GOP insider tells me that Akin is meeting with staff and having a prayer vigil tonight. Looking for way out "gracefully"
20 Aug 12 Reply Retweet Favorite
BuzzFeed’s getting mixed signals:
“Akin is taking concrete steps to withdraw by tomorrow at 5:00 p.m.,” a senior Republican told BuzzFeed, adding that Akin could still change his mind.
But a Republican close to Akin said his position hasn’t changed: He’s still in the race.
Tomorrow afternoon is an important deadline: If he files papers to end his candidacy in Jefferson City tomorrow he can end his candidacy unilaterally; after that, he would have to file an application in court.
Could be that Akin hasn’t given any indication privately about quitting but that the consultants, who suspect he’s DOA if he stays in, are trying to shove him towards the exit by creating a false narrative in the media about him supposedly dropping out. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy: The more the press reports that he’s on his way out and the more positive feedback those reports receive from the right, the more Akin might feel that he has no allies left and is better off quitting. The thing is, if he decided to stick with it, how likely is it really that the NRSC and Republican Super PACs would follow through on their threats and refuse to spend any money on his race in the fall? He may lag behind McCaskill, but probably not by so much that the race’s outcome will become a foregone conclusion; if we get to October and he’s within five or six points, the pressure on the NRSC and outside groups to come to his rescue will be tremendous, even though the money they’d be spending on him could also be useful in other races. The reason they’re threatening to withhold funds now is purely a bluff to convince him that he has zero chance of winning and therefore stands to gain nothing by staying in. But if he does stay in, and ends up being the only game in town for Republicans, will they really cut him off?
Two exit quotations for this one. The first, from NBC: “[A] source with ties to Akin’s political operation tells First Read that the GOP congressman most likely won’t quit the contest, saying Akin believes this race is ‘providential’ and even if Akin was ready to get out, his wife would never let him quit.” The second, from Philip Klein: “At this point, if Akin doesn’t drop, McCaskill can run ads all fall simply quoting Republicans condemning him.”
(VIDEO AT LINK)
The public doesn't tolerate that among Republicans ~ they voted against them. Then, after the election Ken Mehlman, RNC Chairman announced he was gay.
So few people were surprised!
Willkie was another golldarned registered Democrat dressed up like a Republican to run against a Democrat with a strong voting base. The idea has never worked.
I think those guys actually were Jains. Several Jain kings and emperors in India in the 4th through the 7th century SENT MISSIONARIES to both SE Asia and to Europe!
Aiken seems to be in that boat ~ and he certainly won the primary eh! Should be a lock. Should have fellow-traveler (In that boat) Romney backing him 110%!
I"m gloating. Now i"m laughing. Bwahahahahahahah!!!! Oh, my Aikin back!
Who are the real knuckle draggers.
Oh, that's Priebus' territory and he doesn't share.
I have been imprecise.
In the now-distant past, rape was considered second only to murder and often resulted in harsher punishments. Why? Because in those days, rape destroyed the victim’s life almost as certainly as murder. The victim was mistakenly, wrongly tarnished with the sin of her attacker (a common theme in Victorian lit BECAUSE of the incredible injustice involvled) and nearly always as permanently damaged psychologically as well as physically. But—one of the many unintended consequences of abortion-on-demand or abortion-due-to-some unprovable or immediately unreported cause has been the dumbing down of a rape-claim. This certainly isn’t the fault of the victim; it’s the fault of a society which all too effectively sent the message that rape can be undone: all it takes is an abortion. For that matter, without the stigma of unwed motherhood, pregnancy for an unmarried female is likewise panacea-ed: “this wasn’t your fault. Just get an abortion.” Rape is still an evil that must be prosecuted and punished, but we (or more appropriately, so-called feminists) have given the defense attorneys for rapists brand new weapons against the victim—and at precisely the same time proof of rape (DNA) is practically 100% foolproof! The weapons, oddly enough, also come from the feminists: equality of consensual promiscuity which leads directly to victim-intimidation in sworn testimony. Such intimidation, carefully weighed years ago, is de rigueur today and one of the best reasons for victims’ silence. Innocents, in particular, suffer the most damage. They don’t know from “no means no,” and of course, it’s never effective against a rapist—whether known or unknown to the victim.
Insofar as date-rape’s concerned, indeed it can be violent OR forced. But that’s “rape,” pure and simple. It’s the belittling and cutesifying of the crime (”date-rape,” as if it’s different from any other kind of rape) that bothers me. Knowing the attacker has nothing to do with the crime! And it (full-fledged rape, dare I use the term?) exists whether or not the victim has had the time, sense, or ability to say NO or STOP.
And btw, my stinking thinking ranks, and ranked back even in the 50s, the kind of rape to which you refer as the most heinous of all because besides being criminal, forced, and and even “due,” it’s the most dishonorable.
Just remember; she is an effing freak progressive working for other freaks in tv land, of course she kept her job.
The GOP can go sh#t up a rope for all I care; but I have to agree, after a comment like that this man has proven beyond doubt that he is to stupid to represent any body but the insane.
Best thing we can do in a situation like this is punt.
You don't score points if you keep giving the ball away, especially when it is only the second down and not the fourth.
Did you get the news? He’s withdrawing tomorrow.
Why bother saying anything at all?
I don't know...perhaps to express one's opinion?
Why make a fool of yourself while speaking out?
Why berate somebody when they're only tangentially involved?
Why not just keep your mouth shut if you have some sort of contract that requires you not to make public statements that reflect poorly upon the company?
People do it all of the time. I guess his emotional reaction is to be blamed.
Why, why, why? /Jan Brady sarcasm
"This controversy ought to fix those damned Conservative Christian Republicans for taking over my party on the brink of it's Progressive Reformation!"
No, this is about him being foolish enough to leave an opening for somebody in the media to create an issue. You can talk about how unfair it is that these guys just barged right in, but bottom line is he made it possible by leaving the door wide open.
He’s withdrawing tomorrow.
He's being forced out by a contrived situation IMO.
Is the GOP going to support the new candidate or will this be a repeat just like in Illinois after Ryan "withdrew" where the Republican Party wound up not supporting the person who finally had the courage to step up to the plate? We can all see now where that lack of support got us. Time will tell.
I wish the person stepping up to the plate good luck, for if history is something to be learned from they're going to need all the luck (and support) they can get!
...bottom line is he made it possible by leaving the door wide open.
So he intentionally meant for his statements to be misconstrued.
Got it. Thanks for setting me straight. /sarcasm
Intentional, of course not. Nobody intends their statement to be misconstrued.
An articulate and thoughtful person though, will speak in a clear way that doesn’t leave room for these types of misconstructions to take place. Is that too much to ask of someone who aspires to be one of 100 people out of 300 million in the country to serve in the United States Senate?
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