You can blame Todd Akin and Mourdock for talking about rape in relation to abortion. Ann Coulter and others are laying Mitt Romney’s defeat at their feet.
But let’s face it, these were largely insta-scandals that the media has at the ready at all times – just add dopey Republican politicians willing to get off message.
You never see, however, the scandal of Democrats supporting abortion up until the moment of birth. We still never saw the “scandal” around President Obama’s vote for post-natal abortions. The people aren’t with them on those issues but the Republicans don’t seem to be able to capitalize on this distance between the people and the Democratic party on this issue.
Republicans need to start going after these kinds of things like they went after partial birth abortion. Let’s face it, pro-lifers kicked butt on the partial birth abortion debate. They named it and they pointed out the truth of it, and the media had nothing to say other than calling it “what some call ‘partial birth abortion.” And the Republicans won.
We need to pick our next target on the abortion front. Whether it’s late term abortions or parental notifications, I don’t care. We need to win the next debate piece by piece. Talking about rape and incest is too much right now for the public to bear. The people are not with us on that. So let’s take what we can get. We should focus on one thing just like the Dems do and after they get victory, they come back the next day with a new thing.
Dems move the ball down the field three yards at a time. Republicans are always going for the Hail Mary. Let’s try a run play. Right up the middle.
November 9, 2012 at 12:49 pm
Ann Coulter and others are laying Mitt Romney's defeat at their feet.
Ann Coulter is a self-promoting loudmouth who prostituted herself for the Romney campaign during the primary season. She has no credibility remaining, and is now lashing out at pretend monsters in a pathetic attempt to make up for her promotion of a weak candidate.
Oh, and Akin's comments hurt Romney so much that he carried Missouri by ten points better than John McCain in 2008.
November 9, 2012 at 1:30 pm
I have never considered it becoming for a gentleman to describe a woman as prostituting herself.
As for Akin, the fact is that he waded into sensitive issues on a political platform. Certainly no one actually involved in pro-life crisis pregnancy centers would have repeated his statements.
November 9, 2012 at 2:28 pm
What the GOP needs to do is have a female candidate hit the abortion/rape issue head on, and state 2 things. 1. The situation of one's conception does not determine their humanity. 2. Let's take steps to combat rape in our society instead of using abortion as a band-aid to oppress women. BAM.
November 9, 2012 at 2:37 pm
For Akin to have done as poorly as he did in even the most conservative counties in Missouri is pretty telling. He hurt us badly here in Missouri, and nationally by screwing up the very important race against McCaskill. And really, pro-lifers can't afford to have guys like him speaking for us .
That said, Matt is absolutely right. The right needs to get smart and get aggressive. Enough establishment thinking and being afraid of our own shadow. Can we really not make a distinction between controversial, hard-hitting statements and just plain stupid? I don't buy the line that Santorum was a potential Akin, best removed from the national scene. He could shock people out of their complacency, and make the other side mad. But he is smart and knows how to construct a coherent, devastating case for social conservatism. We need to hear more from guys like him.
November 9, 2012 at 2:46 pm
Ann Coulter??
That who said Catholics are only 60% smart, who attacked Romney, then fell in love to Christie, requiring he to be the nominee, then, when Christie supported Romney, became the most ardent defender of Romney?
What about Christie? That who fell in love with Obama?
We are really in enemy territory.
November 9, 2012 at 2:52 pm
I agree. Let's start playing some games we can win, and think baby steps. Great article.
November 9, 2012 at 2:56 pm
We need to evengelize the basic concepts of morality and objective truth. When these foundational elements are ingrained into the minds of our culture, the individual issues will already be won. Look, I'm all for a piece-by-piece approach to limiting and eventually prohibiting abortion, but it needs to be done concurrently with a campaign of basic evangelization in the concepts of the faith, natural law, and morality.
November 9, 2012 at 3:31 pm
Here's an idea. Start caring about the fetus AFTER it's born. Then maybe your side would have a shred of credibility.
November 9, 2012 at 4:18 pm
It is clear from his comments, however badly said, that Akin actually believes abortion is wrong. So, he is one of the few who would do what you want.
What we are left with are all the others, who won't, because they just don't actually care. There is a pro-life industry- people who would lose their jobs if abortion were made illegal. This is why they encourage you to think feasible solutions (like Ron Paul's) are stupid, while playing the Supreme Court nominee game (which, for MY ENTIRE LIFETIME +2 YEARS, has not worked) is somehow sophisticated.
I have heard that the Romney campaign (and Fox news) was genuinely surprised that they lost. I hope that is true. The next big thing they need to notice is that the mainstream explanation isn't true, and that the reason why they are losing is because the people (like me) that they abandoned in order to field candidates like McCain, Romney, and the Bushes (though I didn't realize the Bushes were crap until after 2008) have stopped voting and won't start unless there is some awesome politician out there literally willing to risk going to jail in order to stop some of this crazy stuff. It isn't enough to defy Federal law, you've got to put people who are trying to prosecute it in jail too- this is assuming the awesome politicians come from state jurisdictions, but you get the idea.
November 9, 2012 at 4:23 pm
Here's an idea. Start caring about the fetus AFTER it's born. Then maybe your side would have a shred of credibility.
Here's an idea. Stop parroting sill talking points, then maybe your opinions would have a shred of credibility.
November 9, 2012 at 4:23 pm
I have never considered it becoming for a gentleman to describe a woman as prostituting herself.
When the shoe fits.
November 9, 2012 at 4:24 pm
Anonymous at 10:31, great job pulling out one of the most tired and overused accusations against pro-lifers. I'm sure that took a lot of thought. Here's an idea. Start paying attention to all of the other ministries pro-lifers are involved in, serving the community through soup kitchens and food banks, hospitals, schools…and that's only a few examples. Then maybe your side would have to come up with a REAL argument, instead of making assumptions about people you don't even know.
November 9, 2012 at 5:05 pm
Ditto Tori- and I might add that there are quite a few State and Federal programs directed at helping single mothers (e.g. WIC) which most Republicans, Conservatives and Christians support.There are also many private charities which care for young mothers and children. I donate to one called Christ Child Society here in Atlanta. How many programs for poor mothers do you support?
It has been shown in studies run by non-Christian,non-conservatives, that Christians and conservatives donate more of their time and money to charities. We are not satisfied just to vote for someone else to take care of their fellow man. So, Anonymous, you are wrong and you are repeating a vicious lie. Not to mention that you are actually saying it is better to KILL BABIES than to figure out how to FEED THEM. Which should be pretty easy in a country where even the poor are overweight.
November 9, 2012 at 9:17 pm
Stupid things are said and done every day by both parties. The problem is two-fold. Most people simply don't care, and if they do care they are fed non-stop by MSM. We need about 3 more TV stations and 5 more newspapers that are willing to tell the truth.
November 10, 2012 at 2:37 am
By Ron Paul's solution to abortion, August, do you mean opposing a constitutional amendment to ban it? I must've missed where "states' rights" included a right to have legalized murder. Oh, but then again, Ron Paul also thinks we should never have banned slavery—not if the federal government had to do it, anyway.
Tell us again how the Left has an unrealistic belief that people are basically good. Because "people are basically good, all their wrongdoing is the fault of a bad society" sure as hell sounds like Ron Paul's views on the state.
November 12, 2012 at 4:40 pm
Sophia,
If the question is returned to the States, it is returned to the States pre-1972. Some states would promptly legalize abortion, but others wouldn't.
It translates into an immediate win, especially if you are really serious about your faith and willing to move to a state in support of your views. This is much better for you than staying in Sodom or Gomorrah and imagining your claim to universal jurisdiction is actually helping anything.
By the way, I believe you can easily find Ron Paul's own ideas about abortion online, so you could possible refine your ideas about him rather than feeding yourself out of the swill provided by the mainstream Republican foolishness that has just failed you.