[shhrubbery!]

I wouldn’t call that a gotcha question at all. It was quite straight forward and Akin was free to choose his own words. Ultimately, he tripped up on his own on a fairly simple question.

Journalists who ask this question are hoping to hit the jackpot with a bungled response. That is why it is a gotcha question.

Did we all turn on Sarah Palin simply because she bungled a gotcha question from Katie Couric ("What newspapers do you read?")? No, we did not.

Note in that case it was Sarah's words tripping her up on a "fairly simple question," too.

Now all GOP candidates are on warning:
Craft your answer to the "rape" question carefully. Be honest and be pro-life, but make sure you don't ad lib. If you slip up with just one word slightly off ... you're toast.

[spacejunkie2001]

Unfortunately lots of “conservatives” turned on Sarah after that incident. I hear it all the time, even now. It’s quite discouraging to listen to people that claim to be conservatives attack her like they do.