I voted for Akin in his House races since I've lived in his district. This is a safe, conservative district, and he's had only token opposition. He hasn't had to work hard, he hasn't been put to the test, he hasn't been heard much in public. I was satisfied with his solid conservative record, i.e., how he pushes the buttons in Congress.
In the Senate primary this year, I didn't like either John Brunner or Sarah Steelman. I was turned off by Brunner's ads and his self-paid, TV-commercial candidacy. I did not like Steelman's reputation as a sore loser, non-team-player. And the "Mavericky Me vs. the Good Old Boys Club" shtick has grown wearisome. Palin's endorsement made no difference to me one way or the other.
All three candidates, Brunner, Steelman, and Akin, were similarly conservative on the issues. I was satisfied with Akin's voting record, he's my congressman, and I was not turned off by his campaign, which was fairly quiet. So I voted for Akin.
I knew McCaskill wanted Akin as her opponent. She was trailing Akin in the polls by slightly less than to the others. McCaskill painted Akin as "too extreme for Missouri." But for me and a lot of conservative Republicans, that was fine, since we agree with Akin on the issues. We knew what McCaskill was doing, but thought, "OK, Claire, you think Akin's your best chance, but we'll still beat you!" (It was not "Dem crossover votes" that won it for Akin, btw. Those votes were relatively few, and may have helped his winning margin a little but not decisively.)
Little did we know--little did I know--that Akin would screw up this badly, this quickly. I figured he would at least be an average, capable politician who would be able to not step on obvious landmines. Play it safe, stay on message, and we've got a win. Oopsie!
Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.
I too live in his district. Your story is mine, this is truly horrific.
MOgirl
(PS: For those that will post that this is something that any pol could overcome, think again. Women (including me and each and every woman I know) reacted to his statements in the most negative way, and that is not going to change...)