Apologize and quit. Now.
Posted on 08/19/2012 8:01:18 PM PDT by Arthurio
No wonder Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill wanted to run against Rep. Todd Akin, even investing in his GOP primary victory two weeks ago by spending $2 million on ads that described him as “too conservative.’’ Missouri Republicans saw that as a plus, just as she’d hoped. But after his Sunday comment that “legitimate rape” rarely leads to pregnancy, even some in the GOP are calling for him to step aside.
The Republican lawmaker was trying to explain why he opposes abortion in cases of rape, but instead marched straight into the tar pits, where he will hopefully serve as a warning to future candidates that the reproductive info gleaned at summer camp may not hold up that well in TV interviews half a century hence.
Rape as a result of sex by force “is really rare,” Akin told KTVI-TV. “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Walking it back ...
http://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2012/08/19/i-misspoke-in-what-i-said-about-rape/
Its still idiotic, no matter how you define “legitimately”, this guy with one short phrase has opened up multiple avenues of attack to go after all GOP candidates with.
The attacks that you can be sure are coming are now that the
GOP is:
anti-women
anti-science
pro-rape
and however many more the leftwing media decides to pull out and splash all over the place. This guy upended the Romney campaign with his idiocy, its absolutely stunning at how poorly this guy spoke. He needs to step down immediately, let someone with common sense have a chance.
“CALL FOLKS....573-636-3146”
Will be calling tomorrow.
But there is NO WAY that a woman’s body has a defense against pregnancy - under any circumstances.
*THAT* was the incredibly stupid part.
Biden’s “chains” remarks will be all but forgotten.
Good going Akins you F’n Moron. You don't hand the enemy your Ammunition, you make them pay while they're trying to take it. This will be front and center until November.
Easy for you to say - you've already been born.
By what principle should a child be punished for the crime of his father?
Cordially,
Whether pregnancies occur in large or small numbers of rape cases is irrelevant to whether abortion should be legal for that specific purpose.
His political instincts sent him wandering into discussing statistics rather than simple declarative legal/not legal statements. Very poor judgment.
He will be a repeat offender.
Questionable vote vs guaranteed vote for Obamacare is a much better tradeoff. 6 more years of McCaskill isn’t going to make things any better.
Somebody who campaigned for Richard Nixon probably isn't the most credible voice to be calling for true Conservatism...
That “walkback” won’t even slow down the posse.
Romney just stepped in it....stated that a Romney-Ryan administration is not opposed to abortion in the case of rape.
So now Romney has put Ryan in a big ‘ole catholic sized pit.
And, of course, the newly minted VP-to-be is in no spot to contradict that.
What a freaking mess
Apologize and quit. Now.
What choice did they have? At this point, damage control is necessary because of this guy’s comments. All Republicans have to come out in opposition for him and basically exile him at this point so as not to be labeled by an over-aggressive left-wing media.
This is another example of why it pays to vet your candidate, don’t buy into a guy just because he promises he’s “good with God” or that he “loves the Constitution”....etc, if he’s an error-prone gaffe machine, he’s going to end up causing a lot of collateral damage which is exactly what Akin has done.
Putting out a statement on an issue that puts you on the same side as 80% of the public isn't exactly a political mis-step.
To justify an abortion, women can claim rape, though the act was consensual.
Pick a number, consensual versus actual rape, wag 100 to 1.
Is it just to terminate 99 because of 1?
Republicans ought to put some sort of gag order on any other similarly ignorant candidates they might have regarding rape and evolution to avoid possible future debacles like this.
Did this former engineer and father of six, who sits on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, just suggest that some rapes are not so legit?
How disingenuous. False allegations of rape are common, and the word is used to describe events that do not constitute felonious rape by any stretch of the imagination. It is perfectly reasonable and appropriate to distinguish between legitimate felonious rape and all the non-rape that is called rape.
Based on a 1996 study, (the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology) estimates that about 5 percent of rape victims of child-bearing age do become pregnant as a result, in some 32,000 cases a year.
Where is the comparable data for women who have had voluntary intercourse? Without that comparison, the Post has not disproved Akin's "the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down." As usual, the Washington Post don't need no stinkin' proof, it just needs a Republican to slime.
I don't know whether or not Akin should step down. I do know that if you are a Republican running for office, you should NEVER hand ammunition like this to your political enemies. Before you are interviewed you should have already memorized short, reasonable, defensible answers to questions about extremely inflammatory issues such as abortion in cases of rape or incest. Since a minor misstep on such issues can cost you the election, choose your words VERY carefully.
thanks for the tip. never heard of this guy but this statement alone makes this guy trustworthy to me as a pro-life conservative. hope he’s smart enough to keep calm and carry on. as for his comment, actually it’s quite plausible. just ask all the couples who couldn’t get pregnant until they decided to adopt. it’s documented.
i just decided to add him to my personal pac. just sent him a check (akin.org).
It puts him in direct opposition with the catholic position....and Ryan is being presented as a faithful practicing catholic.
Akin is a freaking moron.
The “shutting down” thing may have been fuzzy thinking about how traumatic stress can affect the fertilization process. Of course it would be irrelevant if the only stress factor was the rape itself, because theoretically, the egg would already be there. Or, if it could be shown that stress induces a higher rate of miscarriage, then it could be argued he was referring to “natural” abortion. However, I have not found anything to confirm or deny this yet.
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