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Loading...Akin Stays In Despite GOP Pressure
Despite being browbeaten by both the leader of the Republican Party and Mitt Romney, Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., steadfastly refused to withdraw from his campaign to oust Sen. Claire McCaskill.
Akin, who has been under fire since claiming that women who suffer “legitimate” rape can’t get pregnant, reiterated that he would remain in the race. He also passed a 5 P.M. deadline to withdraw unilaterally.
“Let me make it absolutely clear,” Akin told radio host Mike Huckabee. “We’re going to continue with this race for the U.S. Senate.” Akin continued, “I believe the defense of the unborn and a deep respect for life…they are not things to run away from.”
Akin defied calls to withdraw from Rush Limbaugh, who called Akin’s comments “stupid,” and Romney, who called the comments “offensive and wrong.” Instead, Akin put up a misspelled ad on his web page asking voters to “Tell McCaskill That Your’re Standing With Akin,” and featuring a prominent photo of a human fetus.
Threat to National Campaign
The level of pressure on Akin to withdraw was a clear sign that Republicans see a danger in Akin’s comments that extend beyond Missouri, and perhaps beyond even control of the Senate. As Care2 Causes’ Jessica Pieklo reported, Akin’s stated position on abortion is exactly the same as the Republican Party’s platform. Akin also teamed up with GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan on the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortions Act, which would have limited federal abortion funding to cases of ”forcible rape.” The law would have barred funding for abortion services in cases of statutory rape, and may have barred funding of abortion services for women who were raped through coercion or drugging.
Akin’s statement also threatened to re-open discussion of the Republican “war on women,” which has already been damaging to the Romney campaign (not to mention women). In a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, Romney trailed President Barack Obama among women by a 10-point margin.
The calls for Akin to withdraw also threatened to alienate anti-abortion activists. Anti-abortion groups have stayed staunchly behind Akin.
“Congressman Akin, a longtime pro-life leader, has said he had misspoken, and no one is arguing that rape is anything but a despicable, horrible crime,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony List. “We are proud to support Congressman Akin.”
Tony Perkins, the leader of the extreme-right-wing Family Research Council, also warned that efforts to remove Akin from the ticket could strain the religious right’s relationship with the GOP. Those ties are already weakened by the general disaffection with Romney, who is a recent convert to the right-wing.
Read more: 2012 election, 2012 presidential election, abortion rights, claire mccaskill, mitt romney, paul ryan, rush limbaugh, Todd Akin, war on women, Women's rights
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75 comments
+ add your ownLes G. You have it ass backwards, as usual for a troll. All the trash and burn comments are from the hypocritical Republican tea party anti-woman party. Democrats are mostly sitting back and letting Akin try removing both feet from his mouth. That will be difficult as he fervently believes what he said and so does his partner in stupidity Paul Ryan.
There is very little difference between the life envisioned for women in America by Ryan and Akin, and the life envisioned for women by, for instance, the Saudi government.
You can get pregnant in a car.
You can get pregnant in a bar.
You can get pregnant on a hill.
You can get pregnant on the pill.
You can get pregnant near or far
It doesn’t matter who you are.
You can get pregnant in a house.
You can get pregnant by a louse.
You can get pregnant here or there.
You can get pregnant anywhere.
In a plane or on a train,
In a box or with a fox.
Standing up or sitting down,
It matters not when sperm’s around.
You can get pregnant if you are raped
Science truths you can’t escape.
I do not like the awful lies
That hurt the ones whom it implies
Can control their own conception
By “legitimate rape” sperm detection.
You should not lead our sacred land
If anti-science is your plan.
I do not like what you are sayin’,
I do not like it, Mr. Akin.
~ Christy Caine
http://leap-of-fate.com/2012/08/24/the-talk/
Something that 'Nameless' posted on another site. Quite good really.
This man needs to get a job in the private sector away from media and he needs a muzzle too.
It is becoming more and more clear that it will be up to the clear-thinking voters in Wisconsin to ensure that this misogynist never gets into the Senate. He is far too dangerous to be left in any elected position. He needs to be sent back to a private life where his idiotic thoughts are of no danger to anyone else.
What a mess. How does someone this ignorant get this far? I find it hard to believe that this is the first stupid thing he's said in his political career. He needs to go. Now.
Way to go Todd. A word of advice better to remain silent and be thought a fool than too open your mouth insert both feet and make the case. Thanks for handing the election over to Claire McCaskill. Just what the Senate needs another woman senator to help fight against the Republican Party's War on Women. Your limitless ignorance will benefit women everywhere.
Akin is being thrown under the bus by his own party the tea party Republicans. Look up Republicans against Akin. They are against him (not what he believes) because normal people know what he said is flat out crazy...things like that could lose an election. The tea party who are dissing him now actually believe what he says. The people I have heard say Akin should get out of the race includes their boss Limbaugh, Palin, Hannity, McCain, Brown, McConnell, Boehner, and many more hypocrites.
I don't know what Democrats you have heard say he should get out of the race. He should stay in, helps the Democrats. They have said it was obnoxious and
@Sharon R.: Both sides may be headed to extremes, but the GOP are the ones who are putting those extremes into their actual policy. Akin is getting lynched in liberal-leaning press because they are sexist, incredibly offensive, just flat out *wrong*, and coming from someone who wants to be allowed to actually make and enact laws, and he's getting lynched in the conservative-leaning press because he's making the side look bad while being embarrassingly close to the party's actual position (remember the "forcible rape" bill from - what was it, 2010, 2011? Key supporters included both Akin and Paul Ryan).
Admittedly not quite as bad as said violent shooter. I could've sworn I saw an article about that on here somewhere, actually, but with the way the archives on this site work good luck finding it. In any case, it's not really surprising that it's been downplayed - no one's ever claimed that this site was neutral, though ignoring it completely would be a little extreme even for care2.
There have been so many shootings, mass killings, and people murdered with guns. It was one nut case who shot at someone but did not kill him along with a dozen other innocent people. So of course it wasn't a big story, although we did hear about it on the news. The tragic thing is people are killed EVERY day in this country by handguns. That is the outrage.
President Obama reached out to the Republicans in the beginning, we all know that they didn't reach back. We all remember the "one term president" No! "hell no" "we will destroy him" "make him a one term president" so, no they decided at the beginning that they would never work with him. Even had a meeting about it.
Akins comments were ignorant, stupid, and totally against women's rights. This was not a misspeak it has been his mind set for years. Akin and Paul Ryan co-sponsored many bills that stated "No abortions ever, no exceptions even in cases of rape and incest. Used the words FORCED RAPE! Any person who thinks that and/or uses that language is way too stupid to be in the Congress or the Presidency.
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