Posted on 08/23/2012 2:16:52 PM PDT by Charles Henrickson
Could Missouri Republican Ann Wagner be the answer that GOP'ers are looking for? Although the first deadline passed for embattled Congressman Todd Akin, Missouri Republican, to withdraw from his U.S. Senate race against Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, without a court order and a fine, grassroots and Washington D.C. establishment conservatives I have spoken to are beginning to rally behind Ann Wagner.
She is currently running for Mr. Akin's 2nd Congressional district seat and is said to have supporters asking her to run against McCaskill should Akin leave the Missouri Senate race before the next September deadline passes. According to her bio page on her campaign website for the 2nd district. . . .
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With a conservative support network around the state, the very articulate Wagner is best suited to take on Sen. McCaskill. The true test for Mrs. Wagner will be if Missouri and the nation call, will she take on the risk and Claire McCaskill? If Wagner's track record of taking on any challenge with a smile gives any indication, McCaskill might have numerous sleepless nights ahead wishing she had not gone after Todd Akin too early.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
You never know, by reading what I have read, Ann Wagner could “quiet” this very distracting situation. She looks very solid conservative.
This entire situation is very strange. If Ms. Wagner is on the ballot for the House, logic (if not law) says she shouldn't be running for the Senate at the same time. Voters shouldn't be voting for the same candidate for two different offices, at least one of which she would have to resign from if elected to both.
Seems far better to choose one of the runners-up in the Senate primary if Akin drops out, out of deference to the primary process if nothing else.
Missouri seems to be very lax about its election laws. I recall when the Dems left Mel Carnahan on the ballot after he was killed in a plane crash and the voters elected him. Amazingly, the election of a dead man was not challenged by the GOP.
That's about the silliest thing I've read in a while.
For your information, I have voted for Akin for the House ever since I moved into this district. I voted for him in the Senate primary. My main reason was his solid conservative voting record. And if Akin stays in till November, I will vote for him then. I agree with Akin's conservative views on the issues.
However, I am highly doubtful he can win anymore. His wounds are self-inflicted. We need to win this Senate seat, plus we can't give any ammo to the Democrats nationally. Ann Wagner, in my estimation, would have the best chance of defeating McCaskill, and Wagner is a solid conservative, very pro-life, etc.
I appreciate the insight, Charles. She may be the answer, but if Brunner and Steelman are both strongly pro-life and fought during the primary, maybe one of them deserves the shot.
You and the handful of Akin supports here would rather LOSE the election from top-to-bottom than for Todd Akin to be replaced with an alternative pro-life, commonsense conservative candidate.
That's political homicidal bomber insane.
Can’t find much fault with what you say. As much as I hate the way the party pounced on Akin I know why they did. I think the party should have sent a pro to help him maneuver through this & see if he could recover but the night of the election I had more than one person tell me we had just lost our chance to win the Senate seat.
As much as I would love to see someone buck the party & pull off a win, I just don’t see Akin being the one. I resent that the party will withhold funds & not even try but I guess the money will be needed elsewhere. I will still vote for him if he doesn’t step down though. The only name on your list I could get excited about is Wagner. We need a fresher face......
But the problem is, I don't know that Akin listens to anyone outside his evangelical, homeschooling echo chamber. He thinks he's on a mission from God, and this "persecution" just reinforces his determination. That's how I see it.
Absolutely correct.
It's sickening to see good men that are principled conservatives destroyed while told we have to vote for liberal swine like Romney.
And, if Romney blows the election, Akin will be blamed by the GOP-e for his loss and used as proof of what happens when a conservative is nominated.
His campaign manager is his son. Which means he basically has no campaigner manager and no adviser and no handlers. Now the mystery of how can he be so unprepared to answer simple questions is solved.
His campaign would have probably been disastrous even without this flub.
BS! Akin didn’t drop and isn’t likely going to drop! You’re helping the GOP destroy him so that if he stays, we lose either way.
But now the date we all need to worry about is Sept.25. Frankly, if he was going to step down, he should have done so on Tuesday before 5PM. Now it is much more complicated. Must petition the court and their decision is subject to review by SOS Carnahan. A Dem.
Wow, he’s that isolated, huh? It’s for sure he’s hard headed if not delusional. I’ve never really paid too much attention to him before now but I can’t help but wonder how he stayed in Congress so long. I know name recognition has a lot to do with it. I heard Emerson said she didn’t have to debate her challenger because of her name. Her staff gets upset if you call her Mrs. Gladney. LOL.
Aren’t politics grand in Mo.?
It's a safe, conservative, GOP district. Akin took over for Jim Talent. Akin has had easy elections since, with only token opposition. His voting record is solid conservative, that's why I've voted for him. I never heard him speak much. I figured if he just runs a safe campaign, stays on message, he should beat the unpopular ObamaClaire, and we'll have a reliable conservative vote in the Senate. But then this.
Yep, we all thought this would be an easy win.
If I had been on one of my hunting trips with no tv/PC/phone,etc. and came back to this mess? I simply would not believe it...
This bears close watching. Todd Akin hasn’t entirely ruled out withdrawing from the race.
Akin is/was going through the seven stages of grief in a 24 hour news cycle. Look, he’d just won a primary, and was a lock for the senate win. In a heartbeat, these comments pop up, and immediately, instead of picking out furniture for his senate office every GOP and conservative is telling him to drop out, and telling him to so immediately. He’s in shock..in mourning..his dream is shattered.He just needs some time to process it..to realize that he will hurt the conservative cause if he stays in. The GOP has handled it wrong..and may have made it much worse..
He’s probably lasted longer than anyone thought possible with no signs of calling it quits! You can’t make this stuff up.
I agree that a backlash might be brewing. I’ve heard a lot of negative talk about the party elites, too. Most I know think Akin should step down but have a lot of resentment for how this has gone down. They were just too much like vultures ready to swoop down & get their prey. Our Central Committe was all aglow about the good thing they had done by disinviting him to our Reagan Day event & making it in The New York times. Just a bit ago someone posted something about “It’s not about forgiveness, it’s about winning an election.” I thought that sounded a little defensive....
Akin is secretly huddling with a bunch of conservative Christian leaders and they’re all telling him to stay in. He’s in an echo chamber, surrounded by people who only see one side of the issue and are angry at the reaction by party leaders.
Rove was mentioned as someone they are particularly teed off at.
The rationale for his staying in is evolving from supporting the sanctity of life to teaching GOP leaders a lesson.
Ann Wagner is instant inoculation against the Akin story.
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