McCaskill wants Akin to stay in the race (Missouri update)

The Hill ^ | August 21, 2012 | Daniel Strauss

[Clintonfatigued]

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) would prefer for Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) to remain her reelection opponent.

"Elections are sacred, there was an election, so I think the voters of Missouri should be respected [and] not have some big wig fancy people from Washington come in here and threaten him that he's got to drop out," McCaskill said, according to St. Louis television station KTVS.

Akin was the Republican primary contender that McCaskill and the Democrats were hoping for, prior to his controversial statements on rape that have prompted GOP calls for him to quit. That his remarks might have injured his candidacy makes him all the more attractive to the Democrats. McCaskill, however, did not emphasize the political calculations in her remarks to the TV station.

She said it would be a "radical" event for Akin to drop out and the state GOP to pick another candidate.

[Nifster]

Yeah I know....sometimes my fingers get going slower than my brain.

What I find interesting is that those who want no exceptions for the abortion rule will never answer me when I ask what a woman does if she has a tubal pregnancy or is pregnant by rape and is under going medical treatment for preexisting condition that will put her life at risk is the pregnancy continues.....all I get is oh those are hypotheticals those never happen. Sorry they do happen and I know people they have happened to.

the biggest problem to me is that we are talking about a medical decision to be made by the mother ( and hopefully the father ) and the doctor. When the courts decided (wrongfully) that there was a right to privacy then it leap frogged for all sorts of nonsense. I hate that this has been politicized for all too long.

[DaveInDallas]

This inevitable loss will fall not on Akin's head but on ours.

This "inevitable loss" will fall on Akin's head and those of his supporters who cannot recognize the difference between the man and the mission. Akin is not the pro-life movement. Akin may be pro-life, but so are Steelman and Brunner. Akin faced a decision, step aside so that another pro-life Republican without his baggage could win, or stay in and give Claire McCaskill a very good chance of being reelected. Which one advances the pro-life cause more?

[House Atreides]

I’m beginning to think we are all wasting our breath on Akin and his dwindling cadre of “supporters”.

I guess I should look on the possitive side—it could have been worse. He could have followed up with a campaign spot starting with the words “I am not a witch...”. But maybe I should be careful; for all I know he and his brilliant staff are working on such a spot as we speak.

[Maryhere]

I agree with you. McCaskill is a stupid woman.

[Maryhere]

And you would know that because........?

[BillyBoy]

The comments on FreeRepublic seem to be running about 8-to-1 against Akin staying in the race. The few die hards he has left are probably the same freepers who demanded we all "get behind Katherine Harris" in the primary when she was polling 30 points behind Nelson, and accused anyone who questioned her electability of being "Nelson supporter trolls"

I am an outspoken pro-lifer and an unapologetic social conservative, and I think Akin needs to go and is doing enormous damage to us in Missouri (he'll not only jeopardize our chance of winning the Senate nationally, but he might hurt the down ticket races in MO as well). The fact he's a staunch pro-lifer is irrelevant -- both his primary opponents are solid pro-lifers as well, and it's highly unlikely the MO GOP would replace him with anyone who was socially liberal. I want a pro-lifer Senate candidate in MO who doesn't suffer from foot-in-mouth disease.

[Delhi Rebels]

Of course she wants Akin to stay in the race. She’s not a complete idiot. He hasn’t been the Republican candidate for two weeks and he’s already shot himself in the foot multiple times. Where is she going to find another opponent whose biggest enemy is his own mouth?

[tflabo]

I know jacksquat about Akin but if he is really a conservative who misspoke then just ride out the storm in a humble manner. This little tempest is likely to blow over significantly come November 6th.

[Fred]

STFU and slither back under Romney’s desk. Romney is a a friggin proabort liberal asshat who created Obamacare.....He should get the F out of the race.

[BuckeyeGOP]

This whole mess seems to damn convenient and neatly wrapped for the dems and their attempts to make the ‘war on women’ the centerpiece of the convention.
Nothing is by accident. Only question left is what kind of dirt the Chicago thugs blackmailed Akin with.

[Gene Eric]

>> Sorry they do happen and I know people they have happened to.

Very unfortunate, and sadly opportunities for the crusaders of abortion.

[Emperor Palpatine]

I’ve seen this movie before.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM_A4Skusro

[Christie at the beach]

Newsflash! People wake up-you are being played. They are laughing over this on the lefty blogs even. Why do you think she is saying this publicly so you will do as exactly as what you are doing. Toughen up and help the man to beat her. He’s too conservative for them. We want that to stand up to the radicals. Look at the man’s record. Dislike him, set aside your emotions, so we can beat her and the GOP-e.

[Clintonfatigued]

In 2010, I heard people say the same thing about Sharron Angle and Christine O’Donnell. Do you know how those elections turned out?

[Antoninus]

Playing him like a fiddle. The very definition of a useful idiot.

No, they're playing the "Stupid Party" like a fiddle. Now, if Akin drops out, McCaskill can play the "how dare the national Republican party interfere with Missouri politics!" card and do so credibly.

But don't worry, the geniuses of the GOP-e and "conservative media" are meeting right now to decide how to handle this problem. Here's a candid photo:

[Antoninus]

In 2010, I heard people say the same thing about Sharron Angle and Christine O’Donnell. Do you know how those elections turned out?

Yeah, and for exactly the same reason. Both Angle and O'Donnell had to spend half their time pulling knives out of their backs put there by their "friends" in the Republican Party. This is becoming a trend--and a key reason why I'm not voting for the top of the ticket in 2012.