I don’t think that Sarah Palin is right on this one. Akin made a huge mistake that may cost us the Senate. But I think he still has a better chance at victory than a 3rd party candidate.
In order to take back the Senate and promote the ideas and policies of respecting and protecting the sanctity of human life. And respecting the idea and policies that would perpetuate a strong economy based on empowering hard-working individuals instead of growing dysfunctional indebted government, we have to take back the Senate, and Missouri is a must-win state. The way we do that is to have someone like Sarah Steelman be able to run, even if it’s as a third-party candidate, to be able to run and take this back,” Palin said.
I say we give Akin a few weeks of breathing room to see if he can still make this a race. If he can, then conservatives and the RNC need to support him.
Taking back the Senate is too important and we cannot afford to cede even a single seat. What is the right tactical move? What say you?
August 22, 2012 at 1:51 pm
Ditto
August 22, 2012 at 1:53 pm
The problem with Palin's strategy is that McCaskill probably has a floor of 45% or so. A third party, conservative candidate is not really going to eat into that vote total. Akin is certainly going to get enough votes to guarantee that McCaskill beats both of the conservative candidates.
August 22, 2012 at 2:18 pm
I think I read that MO has a 'sore-loser' law that prevents a candidate that has lost in a primary to run as a third party candidate. If that's the case, Steelman can't run.
August 22, 2012 at 2:26 pm
Who cares what Palin says…
Akin made a gaffe.. he repeated something I've heard a million times in an insensitive way.. a mistake.. give him a break!
I am so disappointed in the Republican talking heads for kowtowing to the MMS and throwing him under the bus. They should be defending him for what this was.. a gaffe!
August 22, 2012 at 2:42 pm
I agree with Katharine, he made a mistake and admitted it. He was correct in that rape pregnancies are not common. His ONLY gaffe was implying that women who DID get pregnant did not experience a "legitimate rape". A poor choice of words, but even then it's clear based on what he said that he thinks there is still a percentage of women raped who end up pregnant, even if small. Further, there are women who cry rape to cover up what happened. I know someone who did. We hate to talk about it, because who would fake such a thing, but it happens.
I understand that Republicans are scared, but if this guy is really pro-life, you stand behind him. Give these people better talking points, make this a learning opportunity, don't just lynch your own. Do the RIGHT thing and let GOD take care of the election.
August 22, 2012 at 2:43 pm
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August 22, 2012 at 2:46 pm
Yank Akin from under the bus, and run him. Hardly any 3rd party candidate has won an election in the last 100 years.
August 22, 2012 at 2:48 pm
The problems with third party candidates are first, that as Steve said, hardly any has won in the last 100 years, and second, they tend to take votes away from the challenger, not the incumbent.
August 22, 2012 at 3:35 pm
I am so disappointed in the Republican talking heads for kowtowing to the MMS and throwing him under the bus. They should be defending him for what this was.. a gaffe!
Akin didn't just make a gaffe, he made a completely idiotic statement that lived up to every stupid stereotype of pro-lifers. This statement made it very likely that he will lose what should otherwise be an easy pickup opportunity for Republicans. He had several days to drop out of the race and get replaced by someone who will defeat Claire McCaskill. Instead, he decided that personal political ambition was more important than doing what was right for the country.
That said, now that the deadline has passed, I'm perfectly happy to move on. What he said doesn't disqualify him from being a Senator, and if he somehow rebounds from this and defeats McCaskill, fine.
August 22, 2012 at 3:36 pm
Umnnhhh…several astute political geeks (AOSHQ's anonymous election-caller among them) have been VERY clear: the (R) Party does NOT need Missouri to gain a majority. It would be nice, but…
The Party folks are using Akin as an excuse for something. We don't know what that "something" is…yet.
August 22, 2012 at 4:00 pm
the (R) Party does NOT need Missouri to gain a majority.
This is true, and that's why I've thought Ace's pessimism has been unwarranted. But unlike the House, a simple majority is often not enough in the Senate, which is why you need every vote you can get.
August 22, 2012 at 5:00 pm
Akin's next statement was punish the rapist. What he said was dumb because it opened him up to this kind of attack, but we need to quit running for the hills. The reason we are prolife is because it is a person and you can't just kill innocent people. I said wait 3 days take a good poll and see where he's at. He is still ahead of McCaskill as of yesterday. After all, he didn't claim to be an American Indian, call Democrats squealing pigs or say his opponent was a felon or killed somebody. Maybe the Republican party wonks need to figure out what's important.
August 22, 2012 at 8:47 pm
In the interest of disclosure, I voted Steelman in the primary. She received 29% which got her 3rd place. Akin received 36% of the vote which was enough to win.
During the campaign we received mailings, and listened to radio advertisements touting his pro-life bona fides. About half of them were paid for by the committee to reelect Claire McCaskill.
The other two main candidates Steelman and Brunner were just as strongly pro-life as Akin, but Missouri does indeed have a “sore loser” law which does not permit any of the candidates who lost in the primary to run as a write-in or in as another parties candidate.
I must say that I was astonished that someone who has been in elective office 1989 since could say something as daft as this, but see Joe Biden.
August 22, 2012 at 8:51 pm
Oh, and I forgot to mention, the poll taken after the interview was run by the democratic polling firm PPP. It massively oversampled republicans, asked about voting before mentioning the interview, and he is still only 1 point ahead.
August 22, 2012 at 9:14 pm
Palin shoots from the hip and people know that. When the dust clears people will realize they played the fool of liberal anti-choice rhetoric. Akin has not lost this race.
August 22, 2012 at 11:42 pm
Akin is dead and a political liability. He needs to be cut adrift. But third party not the way.
August 25, 2012 at 2:54 am
I guess one could say that one of the first politicians in the United States was George Washington. The thing I remember about Mr. Washington is the story of him being honest about cutting down his fathers cherry tree. I think the reputation of politicians have come a long way since Mr. Washington’s days.
Over the past few decades, I’ve had political discussions with people who have repeatedly stated, “I hate politicians, they’re all liars”. Once I told an older gentleman who made this statement that if a politician told the truth too boldly nobody would vote for him, to which the elderly gentleman nodded his head in agreement.
Recently Congressman Todd Akin, a candidate for the Senate in Missouri, misspoke in an interview. The following day he came out, faced the public and had the courage to apologize for what he said. Now he is being crucified for his statements by political friends and foes. For the first time in a very long time, we have witnessed a politician make a statement and then have the courage to come out, be honest about it and apologize. Isn’t this the sort of behavior we should desire in our elected officials?
Congressman Akin was evidently 5 points up in the polls over President Obama’s cohort incumbent Senator Claire McCaskill prior to this incident. Since, he is now evidently 10 points down in the polls. So let me ask you, if a politician has the courage to be honest will you vote for them?
The way I see it, the so called political talking heads have jumped head over heals to distance themselves from what seems to be a very honest and courageous man running for the US Senate in Missouri. This November, we Missourians will have a chance of a lifetime to put nit-picky politics behind and show that honest politicians do have a place in our political system. Or maybe we can go to the polls vote against Congressman Akin and send the message that if you want to get elected, lie to us.