Day: August 20, 2012

Hang Tough, Todd Akin. Be Too “Legit” to Quit!

Trish
akin
Rep. Todd Akin (R/Tea - Mo.)

Here’s the deal. If, as almost every Republican of note is asking, Rep. Todd Akin quits the race for U.S. Senate from Missouri by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 21, another Republican will be allowed to replace him on the ballot in November.

Republicans see a dead man walking, and are laying on the pressure to get poor Todd out. It’s not that they disagree with him over abortion, mind you. They just realize that his parsing of some difference between “rape” and “legitimate rape” leaves them at a disadvantage with women voters (again), and with that feeling that Akin says women’s bodies have toward rapist sperm: they want Todd out.

Democrats who are interested in retaining control of the Senate need to show Todd some love. Send a note of encouragement. Tell Rep. Akin to hang in there and keep fighting.

Republicans are dying to take control of the now Democratically-controlled Senate, the only thing that’s been standing between Americans and bat shit crazy for the past two years. They were fine with the tea party-backed Akin and men like him, who want to make all the choices for women so we don’t have to worry our empty little heads about them. But once Akin became a symbol of a small portion of what’s wrong with their party, they were anxious to shed him.

Among the Republicans lining up to urge Akin to quit:

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Romney Campaign Tries to Cover Up Paul Ryan’s Position on Abortion, Denies He Advocates Banning Abortion for Rape Victims

Jon Ponder

New York Times:

A campaign statement that neither Mitt Romney nor Representative Paul D. Ryan opposes abortion in rape cases contradicts Mr. Ryan’s earlier position on the issue.

The statement was issued late Sunday in response to a widely condemned comment earlier in the day by Representative Todd Akin, the Republican Senate nominee from Missouri, that in cases of what he called “legitimate rape,’’ women’s bodies reject a pregnancy. Mr. Akin was explaining why he opposes abortion in the case of 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,’’ a Romney campaign spokeswoman, Amanda Henneberg, wrote.

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Reporter at Right-Leaning Politico Agrees with Tea Party’s Akin That ‘Legitimate Rape’ Rarely Leads to Pregnancy

Jon Ponder

Huffington Post:

Politico reporter Dave Catanese took to Twitter to defend comments made by Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) about rape.

“Poor phrasing, but if you watch the intv @ToddAkin meant to convey that there’s less chance of getting pregnant if raped,” he said…

Catanese tweeted that Akin’s comments, while poorly phrased, were worth discussing.

“So perhaps some can agree that all rapes that are reported are not actually rapes? Or are we gonna really deny that for PC sake?” he said. “So looks like he meant to say — ‘If a woman was REALLY raped, it’s statistically less likely for her to get pregnant.’ What’s the science?”

Huffington Post cites data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing that 32,000 women are impregnated by rapists every year.

Paul Ryan Co-Sponsored ‘Forcible Rape’ Bill Last Year with Missouri Tea Party Senate Candidate Rep. Todd ‘Legitimate Rape’ Akin

Jon Ponder

From left: Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), co-sponsors of "foricible rape" bill
Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.), left, and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), co-sponsors of "foricible rape" bill
As we noted here yesterday, Missouri tea party Senate candidate Todd Akin made a bizarre assertion about women’s reproductive systems:

AKIN: Well you know, people always want to try to make that as one of those things, well how do you, how do you slice this particularly tough sort of ethical question. 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.

This was not a gaffe. It reflects a policy position, and Akin — who is running to unseat Sen. Claire McCaskill — is not alone in advocating misogynistic views on rape. Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan co-sponsored the bill with Akin last year that introduced the term “forcible rape” into the political lexicon:

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Romney Was Arrested for Disorderly Conduct in 1981

Jon Ponder

Buzzfeed:

According to what Romney told the Boston Globe in 1994, he had taken his family off to Wayland, Mass.’s Lake Cochituate, about an hour outside Boston, for a summer excursion. As Romney prepared to put his family boat into the water, a park officer told Romney not to launch because his license appeared to have been painted over. The officer told Romney if he put his boat into the water he would face a $50 fine.

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