This “opinion poll” says, essentially, nothing.
What good is it to ask Republican voters in Missouri “whether or not they have a favorable opinion of” Todd Akin, or whether they think “he should drop out” of the race?
Would not a more pertinent question to Republicans be, “are you going to VOTE for Mr. Akin in November, or, vote for Ms. McCaskill?”
I looked for -those- numbers, and don’t see them anywhere above.
There are MANY people right here on FreeRepublic who don’t care much for Mitt Romney at all, but who WILL vote for him regardless, come November, because the option of not doing so will produce results that are considerably worse.
I sense that when it comes down to the brass tacks, most Missouri Republicans are in fact going to vote for Mr. Akin. And I wouldn’t be surprised if a fair number of independents do, as well.
It’s just too early to tell right now.
It will take at least two more polling cycles of “likely voters” before we see whether or not Mr. Akin stands a chance of recovering.
My advice to him would be to stop trying to “explain away” his faux pas, and attack McCaskill from every other direction.
I don’t believe this contest is over yet, not by a longshot.
How many right here on FreeRepublic were hollering and screaming that a Romney nomination would mean a certain loss to Obama in November?
Where are those people now?
Where are those people now?
Some have said those same people are the ones pushing for Akin to stay in so that many will be turned off by the GOP and stay home. It's their way of manipulating the results to come out exactly as they predicted. Or in short: teaching the GOPe a lesson by allowing Obama win another term. That's where those people are now.
A subtle point here, but one that bears heavily on the outcome. Of course Republicans will vote for Akin over McCaskill, that's not an issues. But, Independents will not and that is an obstacle that cannot be scaled by Mr. Akin. This race is not about Conservatives, it is about Independents.