Posted on 08/20/2012 7:06:28 AM PDT by Kaslin
Until yesterday, Todd Akin had a comfortable polling lead in Missouri over incumbent Senator Claire McCaskill in what had been the most vulnerable seat for Democrats this cycle. Suddenly, one has to ask whether Akin has a, er, legitimate chance of beating McCaskill, or even a legitimate chance of avoiding a Torricelli maneuver:
Todd Akin on Rape and Abortion, The Jaco Report, 8/19/2012
In the clip, Charles Jaco, of St. Louis Fox affiliate KTVI’s “Jaco Report,” asks Akin whether he thinks abortions ought to permissible in a situation where a woman is raped. While explaining his position, Akin claimed that pregnancy only rarely results from “legitimate rape.”
“Well you know, people always want to make it as one of those things where how do you slice this particularly tough, sort of ethical question,” he replied. “It seems to me first of all, from what I understand from doctors — that’s really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. But, let’s assume that maybe that didn’t work, or something. I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child.”
Good grief. First, pregnancy from rape isn’t all that uncommon, as Twitchy discovered with just a little research; it’s around 5%. At least one researcher has found that conception rates for rape actually exceeds that of single instances of consensual sex. Second, what in Akin’s mind constitutes legitimate rape? Was he trying to distinguish between forcible rape and statutory rape? If so, that’s a pretty fine distinction, and one that’s really nonsensical even in the argument Akin was trying to make. And if he wanted to suggest that some women would lie about being raped in order to secure an abortion, then he’s really setting up an argument that any woman who is pregnant couldn’t really have been raped … which as noted above is simply not the case.
Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan distanced themselves from Akin’s argument at light speed:
A spokeswoman for Mitt Romney wrote late Sunday that the presumptive GOP presidential nominee and his running mate, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, did not share Rep. Todd Akin’s sentiments on rape.
“Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan disagree with Mr. Akin’s statement, and a Romney-Ryan administration would not oppose abortion in instances of rape,” Romney campaign spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg wrote.
Even Akin himself repudiated his earlier remarks:
“As a member of Congress, I believe that working to protect the most vulnerable in our society is one of my most important responsibilities, and that includes protecting both the unborn and victims of sexual assault. In reviewing my off-the-cuff remarks, it’s clear that I misspoke in this interview and it does not reflect the deep empathy I hold for the thousands of women who are raped and abused every year. Those who perpetrate these crimes are the lowest of the low in our society and their victims will have no stronger advocate in the Senate to help ensure they have the justice they deserve.
“I recognize that abortion, and particularly in the case of rape, is a very emotionally charged issue. But I believe deeply in the protection of all life and I do not believe that harming another innocent victim is the right course of action. I also recognize that there are those who, like my opponent, support abortion and I understand I may not have their support in this election.
“But I also believe that this election is about a wide-range of very important issues, starting with the economy and the type of country we will be leaving our children and grandchildren. We’ve had 42 straight months of unacceptably high unemployment, trillion dollar deficits, and Democratic leaders in Washington who are focused on growing government, instead of jobs. That is my primary focus in this campaign and while there are those who want to distract from that, knowing they cannot defend the Democrats’ failed economic record of the last four years, that will continue to be my focus in the months ahead.”
“Those who want to distract from that” got a big boost from Akin himself.
Can Republicans replace Akin, if they so choose? Apparently they can — but the deadline is tomorrow. Of course, deadlines didn’t matter when Robert Torricelli became a political pariah in New Jersey, but there are a couple of differences. First, it involved actual corruption, not a case of foot-in-mouth disease, and second, Torricelli was a Democrat. If Republicans want Akin off the ticket, they’d have to act quickly, which means it won’t happen at all.
That means that Missouri will probably see a lot of debate over “legitimate,” and Republicans had better hope that Akin can legitimately change the subject soon.
Update: Chuck Todd hints that there may be more time than we think if Akin withdraws:
There is a SECOND deadline for Akin to withdraw, 9/25, but it’s complicated. Will explain on
@dailyrundown.— Chuck Todd (@chucktodd) August 20, 2012
Well, the whole thing’s getting pretty complicated now, isn’t it?
Update II: Sarah Steelman, one of two challengers against Akin in the primary and Sarah Palin’s endorsed choice, blasted Akin this morning on Twitter:
Todd Akin’s remarks about “legitimate rape” were inexcusable, insulting and embarrassing to the GOP.
#mosen— Sarah Steelman (@sarah_steelman) August 20, 2012
On the other hand, poll analyst Sean Trende reminds us that politicians who say stupid things often don’t pay as much of a price as we’d think:
Perspective on Akin: After basically dropping an n-bomb, in a horrible R year, George Allen very nearly won his Senate race.
— Sean Trende (@SeanTrende) August 20, 2012
Perspective on Akin: After lying about going to Vietnam, in a terrible Dem year, R Blumenthal handily won his Senate race.
— Sean Trende (@SeanTrende) August 20, 2012
Persp on Akin:After saying “rape is like bad weather: If it’s inevitable, just relax and enjoy it,” Williams ~won 90 TX Gov. race
— Sean Trende (@SeanTrende) August 20, 2012
These things matter.But they aren’t necessarily the game changers pundits make them out to be.
— Sean Trende (@SeanTrende) August 20, 2012
I’m not sure that this is a comforting thought.
What he should have said ....
What sin has the child committed that he should be sentenced to die?
The sad thing is that I think he meant legitimate rape “claim”. One concern many have about legalizing abortion for rape will create many, MANY false claims of “rape” in order to get an abortion. And the women will be very vague about how it happened or any details about the “rapist”.
Oh stop your damn panicking.
No election is going to be decided on this trivial nonsense no matter how many Twitter posts people devote to it.
My concern is if he can say something like this within a week or two of winning the primary to blow up a sure thing, what else he may have in his bag of tricks over the next 10 weeks for the media to prop this guy up nationally as representative of all the Republican candidates.He will become disaster politically and needs to go.
Well, I didn't take away that. Yes, it was a stupid use of the word "legitimate" and he's going to have to go, so not to distract the whole campaign season. But I think he was merely going for a distiction about -forcible- rape, as opposed to statutory or other situations. I have seen those stories too, that women are more likely to conceive in voluntary sex than in forcible rape-- but I have no idea if that's some kind of urban legend or not. It might be a medically interesting question, but he was still stupid to trot it out in the discussion.
Who is this idiot? Clayton Williams LOST the race.
Sour grapes, Sarah. There was nothing wrong with what Akin said.
The RNC deciding what to do rather than letting the calendar decide is a bad idea; I don't think so. Also, just ask George Allen about what a sound bite can do to your campaign - google "Macaca" moment.
“I wouldn’t jump on the Steelman bandwagon so quickly. I would think if Aiken drops out it would go the second place candidate, which would be Brunner, IIRC. If it’s strictly a party pick then, yes, it might be Steelman. I’ve heard she’s been a thorn in the party’s side so not sure she would be a sure thing either.”
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I’m nowhere near to being an expert in Missouri politics, but I contributed to Steelman’s campaign because she was basically a strong conservative and had the history to prove she definitely had the courage to not be a “go along to get along” type and was not afraid to “buck the establishment” in the manner of Palin. Sarah Palin’s coming along and endorsing Steelman was icing on the cake.
Steelman’s being unafraid of going against the Republican establishment when they sell out conservative principles would likely work against her being appointed by the Missouri GOPe to take Akin’s place should he withdraw. For the same reason, Mitch McConnell (bless his little RINO heart—he fears losing his Senate Republican leader position come 2013) would likely not favor her being named an Akin replacement.
Regardless, Steelman would likely do better in the general election against McCaskill than would Brunner from the polling I’ve seen.
i almost wrote a check for brunner (who turns out to be a non-conservative) and then for steelman, but something about her pitch held me back. her words (”inexcusible”) and attack on her own nominee, if correctly reported, now paint her for what she is. my lesson, beware of the r-party in that state and watch your conservative back.
yesterday i did finally write a check for akin (akin.org). his comment is very plausible (although poorly worded. he should have qualifed the word “proven” instead of “legitimate”). even the questionable and biased article above cites 5% which is 1 in 20, but my own research gives the number as far below 1%.
hope he has the sense to keep calm and ignore the panicked republican elite. he has a winning issue here. after this dust up, he’ll now have real credentials as a pro-life, anti-republican establishment conservative.
Let's assume that 5% is in cases of forcible rape and not including other types to muddy the waters.
Second, what in Akin’s mind constitutes legitimate rape? Was he trying to distinguish between forcible rape and statutory rape? If so, that’s a pretty fine distinction, and one that’s really nonsensical even in the argument Akin was trying to make.
Obviously he was trying to make that distinction because we have statutory rape (age issue) and other technical rapes like when pair of drunks engage in sex as neither can consent under law and finally "rape by force or fear" which is the image everyone conjures when hearing the word "rape."
It's obvious he was speaking to last one with his unfortunate, foolish and offensive "legitimate rape" verbiage.
Ironically in Akin's attempt to clarify, rather than assume the word "rape" would be taken as forcible rape, he created the image that there's some legitimate kind of rape.
As an aside, I like how Hot Air and saying 95% of rapes not ending in pregnancy means rapes ending in pregnancy is actually common. Really? In what other realm is a 95% chance considered UNcommon?
I wanted Steelman to run for Senate 2 years ago & indications were leaning that way but she announced that she would not run shortly before Blunt announced he would. I’ve wondered if she agreed not to run then in exchange for favors down the road.......who knows? At any rate, I agree that a race between the two women would be good. I thought any one of the 3 could beat Claire so I must not be much of an expert on Mo. politics even after 25 years of living here! ;)
“....As an aside, I like how Hot Air and saying 95% of rapes not ending in pregnancy means rapes ending in pregnancy is actually common. Really? In what other realm is a 95% chance considered UNcommon?”
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Well, in this new era where the “morning after pill” is routinely being offered 100% of the time (along with powerful antibiotics and anti-HIV drugs) to victims who report their rapes, I’d be surprised if the percentage is not instead approaching far closer toward 0%. I’ve seen no reliable statistics (whether 1% or 5% or some other figure) on the percentage of non-consentual rape victims who, in the past, became pregnant from that rape.
And folks, please don’t flame me—I’m not making an argument on either side of the question of whether use of the morning after pill results in an “early abortion” or instead in a prevention of pregnancy.
Hey TEA PARTY PEOPLE.......YOU GOT ELECTED ON TAX and SPENDING ISSUES......STICK WITH THAT!
Naive....this will be repeated ad nauseum.
ABC World News Tonight’s lead was a double-barrelled “Republicans Behaving Badly” thing. Barrel Two was the skinnydipping session in the Sea of Galilee. Care to guess what Barrel One was?
Anybody who thinks this is blowing over if Akin stays in, you’re high.
He won’t drop out. It is all about him, and he s too stupid too realize he cannot win.
His staff and aids need to resign en masse and join up with Steelman and launch and independent conservative campaign. Sarah Palin could be rushed in to save the day. She could launch attacks at both McKasKill and Adkins. Do it now!
Akin and the GOP need to go on the attack against the libtard media
If he is not going to drop out, then he needs to make the media and mckaskill out to be one and the same as Obama supporters
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