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 comments are worth a trip over there. Oh, and if you'll remember, Governor Sarah Palin backed Steelman.
Remember when Akin’s opponent, Claire McCaskill, insisted that Obama never said he wanted to fundamentally transform America?
Now how stupid was that?
The Video Claire McCaskill does not want you to see.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2mPekX8juJs
When talking about rape just leave it at rape.
To put it bluntly, it’s time we learn from 2010’s few losses.
People like this DO NOT LEARN FROM THEIR MISTAKES.
He will repeat gaffes in the future, possibly EVEN WORSE. It’s time to Freep the heck out of anybody who can make him change his mind.
Workplace number of state GOP chairman (lawyer): 417-847-2734
Contact Akin and the Missouri GOP on Facebook. They can pressure him to quit:
http://www.facebook.com/supportakin
http://www.facebook.com/missourigop
Call MISSOURI GOP: 573-636-3146
Call Akin campaign: 636-207-7986
Regrettably, it doesn’t matter what Claire McCaskill, or Joe Biden, or any Democrat says—No matter how idiotic or outrageous—Because the media won’t cover it 24/7 like they will when a Republican steps on themselves.
Thanks 2ndDivisionVet.
And thanks go out to Hannity for playin’ along with his fellow Partisan Media Shills.
“Regrettably, it doesn’t matter what Claire McCaskill, or Joe Biden, or any Democrat says—No matter how idiotic or outrageous—Because the media won’t cover it 24/7 like they will when a Republican steps on themselves.”
That’s because Democrats promise government bennies and people who want free money don’t care what people say as long as they get their $$$.
What’s most distressing here is that the candidate is right. Rape seldom (more seldom than one in 400,000 incidents) results in pregnancy. Charles Rice, Notre Dame Law professor, wrote extensively about this (in First Things) during the Roe v. Wade hearings because he was not permitted to testify. Sure, it may have been an impolitic statement, but that doesn’t make it unscientific. (The figures, as I remember, took into account only PROSECUTED rapes. I know pro-choicers claim that many so-called rape-victims dare not go the prosecution-route; but without that stat, the cited figure stands. Further, Prof. Rice pointed out, hospitals throughout the country routinely “cleanse the victims of their attackers” if the rape is reported within 24-odd hours.
I love the prez’s claim that “Rape is rape.” Oh, yeah? Maybe he ought to check with the Duke LAX team.
This guy will cost us the senate because it is close to 50:50 now. Steelman will win this seat, Akin needs to drop out ASAP.
Simply amazing!
DANG . . . I couldn’t agree more! Cowards all.
Yep.
You can stand with Todd Akin or you can stand with the agents of the DNC, MSM, the Obama White House and The NOW who are all out to destroy a true Pro Life Conservative.
A man who doesn’t know which end of the sword to hold isn’t going to be “fighting” effectively no matter how sincere he is about fighting.
This is about competence.
To put it bluntly, it’s time we learn from 2010’s few losses.
People like this DO NOT LEARN FROM THEIR MISTAKES.
He will repeat gaffes in the future, possibly EVEN WORSE. It’s time to Freep the heck out of anybody who can make him change his mind.
NAILED IT!!!
If we owned the media as well as Dims did it would be a “Biden Moment” and it would be overlooked...
We don’t own the media so we have to be 200% more error proff than the Dims, if that means we have to hold to impossibly hight standards than so be it.
You betcha!
He's probably lost Republican candidates millions of Democrat votes this year by getting into the argument that their taxes ought to be increased.
They don't like taxes any more than we do ~ and there was Hannity doing the heavy lifting for Obama on that critical issue.
I think the guy works for the DNC.
Oh, THAT’s what’s it’s about. Competence spelled play-the-game? Competence is worthless without truth-telling and other prized ethics. Is competence now measured by how efficiently one lies? And how exactly does Akin’s core belief on abortion remotely affect his competence in a thousand other spheres?
Stand with Akin and let Claire get re~elected, that’ll show ‘em!
At this point, standing with Akin is standing with the DNC, MSM, and Obama. Because you are standing with a loser, whose loss helps them. You can make yourself feel good by riding a sinking ship down, or you can actually DO GOOD, and get a republican elected who will vote obamacare away.
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