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Are Conservatives Considering Supporting Embattled Candidate Todd Akin Again?

Sep. 26, 2012 12:00pm Mytheos Holt

When Todd Akin first made his comment about “legitimate rape” in an interview with a local TV station in Missouri, it invited near unanimous condemnation. Every conservative from Michelle Malkin to Rush Limbaugh slammed the comment as scientifically illiterate, politically insane and an a priori disqualification for Akin. Karl Rove’s American Crossroads immediately began pulling money from the Akin race, as did the Senate Republican Campaign Committee (SRCC), and polls showed Akin ten points down relative to McCaskill, where he had previously enjoyed a double digit lead. In short, Akin looked doomed.

Now, however, local forces in Missouri look to be trying to breathe life into Akin’s ailing campaign. Yahoo News reports:

Missouri U.S. Senate candidateTodd Akin, unmoved by pressure to drop out of the race by a deadline on Tuesday, got a pledge of support from the state Republican Party and some Tea Party-linked conservatives considered donating to his campaign.

Akin has been urged to quit by fellow Republicans over his controversial remarks on rape. In a sign of defiance, Akin began a bus tour across the state on Tuesday to emphasize his decision to let pass the last opportunity to leave the race before the November 6 election.[...]

Akin assured more than 150 supporters at a rally in St. Louis on Tuesday afternoon that he was in the race to stay, then departed on the bus tour. Donations to the campaign are picking up, his spokesman Ryan Hite said.

“Now that the deadline has passed, you will see a lot of conservative groups coming back in,” Hite said. “Missouri is a battleground state and its importance to taking back the Senate is too much to ignore.”

Mr. Hite’s prediction is proving accurate. Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina issued a joint statement with former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania today via Facebook:

“If Republicans are to win back the Senate and stop President Obama’s liberal agenda, we must defeat Senator Claire McCaskill in Missouri. Her support of President Obama’s job-killing, big-spending policies are sending our country into an economic abyss. And her passionate support of ObamaCare is ensuring healthcare costs go up while quality of care goes down. Simply put, we cannot afford six more years of Senator McCaskill.

“Todd Akin is a principled conservative who is committed to winning and fighting for freedom in the U.S. Senate. Todd will work to stop reckless spending, stop the out of control debt, repeal the government takeover of healthcare, support our military and defend life at every stage.”We support Todd Akin and hope freedom-loving Americans in Missouri and around the country will join us so we can save our country from fiscal collapse.”

DeMint and Santorum’s support is unsurprising, given both men’s socially conservative bona fides. It is an open question whether other Republicans will follow their lead. The RNC has already announced its continued unwillingness to back Akin, and given Karl Rove’s joke about “mysteriously murdering” Akin, it’s unlikely that American Crossroads will, either.

However, Akin may not need them. Some polls have shown him closing the gap with McCaskill, despite being excommunicated by the GOP, while a Rasmussen reports poll taken at the beginning of this month still shows him six points behind.

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Comments (79)

grayd88
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 5:33pm
What Akin said is not even an afterthought in Missouri, no one here is talking about this at all. We are sick of the fraud, corruption and lies from McCaskill. She embodies what is wrong in USA. A State Senator acting on progressive federal agenda rather than the interests of Missourians. She runs from Obama now we are vocal against Obamacaretax but she was right there with him to pass a vote for it. Akin, at least is an honest, pro-life, pro-American. We’re flushing an long overdue t**d November 6th in MO.

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- SocialistSlayer
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 5:47pm
  Not having the support of Marxist Karl Rove is a good thing ! Go Akin Go! The GOP is dead ! The Conservatives are taking back our country !
  
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Lar5
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 4:12pm
This proves that the GOP zealots are auditioning for the cast of a
slasher/ horror movie in the making..The worms are crawling out to support him. What a disgraceful exhibition of their hatred for women.

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- khandahar&jalalabad
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 4:51pm
  Big deal he said something stupid and was completely ignorant on something. I’m sure your used to it with your stupid comment here. Oh by the way abortion is murder and how is that good for the girls (not to mention the boys) killed by abortion. A fetus, as you would probably callously call it, is a unique individual. If you kill your first child in the womb the next child you decide to keep would not be the same child. It would be the younger sibling of the murdered child. If your mother aborted you and conceived another and bore that child would it be you? Hell to the no.
  
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- khandahar&jalalabad
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 4:59pm
  Why do you and your liberal friends hate babies so much that you have to murder them? Funny, isn’t that what you called our soldiers in Vietnam, “baby killers”.
  
  Report this comment
- Jaycen
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 5:17pm
  You walked into the discussion name-calling. You’ve already lost the debate.
  
  Report this comment
steveh931
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 4:03pm
Which one of us hasn’t said something foolish in our lives. McCaskill has to stay home, we have enough Harry Reid’s, you can do it Missouri.

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CitizenVetUSA
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 2:41pm
GOP needs to return to supporting Akin and get money to his campaign because we need every senate seat to defeat democratic control

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- Git-R-Done
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 3:01pm
  Amen to that.
  
  Report this comment
- paulwbrown
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 3:31pm
  Common sense would tell one that the GOP should have never dropped support for Adkin. He made a stupid comment that he immediately apologized for, and the GOP geniuses decided that was enough to drop him. I wish him luck.
  
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Sharon Rose
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 2:19pm
If I lived in Mo., he would get my vote.

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- muffythetuffy
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 2:44pm
  Conservatives never stopped supporting Akin, it was the Ruling Elites of the GOP. These Ruling Elites: McCain, McConnel, Bushes, and others would rather elect Obama than have a Conservative win. The GOP prefers loosing the Senate than allow a Conservative win a Senate Seat.
  
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- swamp_donkey
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 3:27pm
  and if you ever get raped sharon you can just turn your ovaries off
  
  Report this comment
- no_muslim
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 4:15pm
  Swamp Donkey, you’re an idiot
  
  Report this comment
- Jaycen
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 5:23pm
  @swamp_donkey
  
  That’s right douchey – because Todd Akin is personally responsible for men who rape women. He’s also personally responsible for the police to track those men down, and for the prosecutors who direct the case against the rapist. Oh, I forgot. Todd Akin is also responsible for all juries everywhere.
  
  Every time I meet someone with your mentality, I wonder how you make it through life day-to-day without injuring yourself or others.
  
  Report this comment
HappyHarriet
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 2:05pm
Akin has a tense definiteness about his personality that can be harsh and arrogant. I think that, combined with his out-of-date science comment, is what turned so many off about him.

HOWEVER, is his blunder, for which he apologized, really THAT awful compared to the BAD SCIENCE we hear every day about global warming that is stuffed down our throats with a straight face? or the under reported, unstated truth about the ACTUAL SCIENCE of an abortion?

I bet he knows how many states there are, how to pronounce the “Corps” in “Marine Corps” and I bet he knows the difference between Veterans Day (honoring those who served both dead and alive) and Memorial Day (honoring those who gave their life). AND he isn’t misrepresenting himself as a Republican when he’s nothing more than a liberal progressive Democrat-in-Hiding like his opponent.

BIG MISTAKE for Republicans and funders to throw that man under the bus. It was an incredible opportunity to lay claim to the PRO LIFE STAND he takes versus the PRO DEATH STAND of his opponent.

(Please – let’s not let the progressive liberal snakes use language that isn’t right. PRO CHOICE is NOT pro choice! It’s PRO DEATH and MURDER and KILLING. The unborn child does NOT have a CHOICE in “PRO CHOICE”. Let’s not let them lie with their labeling.)

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- Jaycen
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 5:24pm
  I stood next to the man while he rattled off 18 Founding Fathers off the top of his head, including WHY they are considered Founders.
  
  He has a solid understanding of history, the Constitution and religion. It’s okay with me if he’s a little behind on his Biology.
  
  Report this comment
kenboo1
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 1:44pm
I sent him a Franklin, and might do it again… Hang tough Todd!!!

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BasketFullOfPuppies
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 1:25pm
In brighter news for Missouri, if he does win, he won’t be beholden to the powers that be. Now, that could be a good or bad thing…

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TeresaJ
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 1:07pm
Good.

There is something Todd Akins has proved that no one else in this campaign can claim. He is a fighter even against his own party. With a very important and embarrassing lesson of checking your facts under his belt, he will get things done. That is exactly the kind of politcians we need. People who are not afraid to stand up to peer pressure and media and will fight for what is right.

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- Marine25
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 1:30pm
  Now that the polls show the Democrats likely to add a seat in the Senate, and early internal congressional polling showing the House may be a coin flip, and now that Akin won’t leave the race, he’ll get GOP love again. The moderates are just going to love that. Now he will lose by 7 instead of 12 and Obama will win Missouri as moderate pro-choice voter turnout wll be way up.
  
  Report this comment
- kenboo1
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 1:42pm
  Damn Marine get your head out of your ass and think positive thoughts… The poll takers are over sampling Dems by as much as 7%… They are doing all they can do to keep from repeating 2010, but they can’t, its a steam roller and it is going to flatten a bunch of dems…
  
  Report this comment
- Marine25
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 2:19pm
  @kenboo1
  They are not oversampling Democrats. I read the methodology. I reference the crosstabs. I have a degree in math and understand data. The NYT and Quinnipiac polls don’t adjust for party affilition at all. They take the people that answer the phone and that’s it. That, by the way likely means they are undersampling Dems as older people are more often at home during polling hours and under thirties not home as often. This gentleman with this new site that’s hot on FOX; unskewed polls, is a birther nutjob with a dozen other domain names to his record that are all wing-nut republican. I would think positive thoughts, but I am too damn educated to believe the crap the GOP is spinning at me. They count on their voters being too stupid to know the meaning of words like socialist and marxist , to dim to understand how scientific polls work. Well, that is precisely how they lost this vote. For every tea-party imbecile they attract, a traditional (and now former) Republican hits the independent bricks. On this skewed polling math BS, I am afraid it’s your head that is the issue.
  
  Report this comment
- Git-R-Done
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 3:00pm
  Marine – Don’t get mad that you liberals are becoming more and more irrelevant to this country. Your ideas have been proven to be disastrous every time they’ve been tried.
  
  Report this comment
- Polwatcher
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 3:15pm
  The libs are jiggering with the polls to make it look bad for Conservative. They do this to discourage conservatives in the hope that they will not vote. Rasmussen is the only one you can trust and the sampling ratios must be understood. If we have turn out like in 2008, conservatives lose. If turnout is like in 2010, conservatives win. I’m betting on another 2010 turnout.
  
  Report this comment
- Marine25
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 6:44pm
  @git-r-done
  So I am a liberal? Because I am educated enough to understand data? Well-read enough to understand the meaning of words and when they are misused. Because I refuse to vote my party affiliation when some of their candidates kow-tow to extremist and largely ignorant factions like the tea party? I am a liberal because I refuse to accept the college drop-out rantings of a failed disc jockey like Mr. Beck? I have been a registered Republican since 1980, but can not support the reactionary wing of the party that bears no resemblance to the conservatism of Reagan, Buckley, or Eisenhauer. After more than 20 years of service in the Corps and American Foreign Service I can say that I have not found one Republican candidate this year to whom I would entrust the Defense Department or the State Department. Gov. Huntsman would have been my choice, but he served a Democratic President, so the far-far right disqualified him outright. If he were the nominee today, we wouldn’t be arguing about skewed polls, as he would have the real Republican vote and more than his share of the moderate and Democratic vote. But he was an intellectual, and served his country under a Democratic President, so he was out. And for similar reasons, so am I. Sen. Santorum had it right a week ago Saturday; “we will never have the smart people on our side.” Keep purging the educated, the workers, latinos, blacks, women, and homosexuals in hopes that they will just go away. Trust me, they wi
  
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jackboydspeaksout
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 12:56pm
He wasn’t my pick, but now that he has the nomination I will vote for him. His comment, as stupid as it was, doesn’t even come close to being as bad as Clairs voting record and the democrat controlled senates record! It’s not about the party it’s about saving America from the liberals who would drive us into something even worse than socialism.

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MattTheCat
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 12:56pm
Like I’ve stated before one of the definitions of “Legitimate”:
4. Authentic; genuine: (example->) a legitimate complaint.

So Akin’s use of “Legitimate” *WAS* legitimate…. the wimp GOP and the kneejerks who cannot look up words in the dictionary… didn’t bother looking up the definition before jettisoning him…. To Akin’s discredit he apologized before confirming the definition and should have, instead, blasted those “who would even think” that he thought rape was: 1. Being in compliance with the law; lawful:

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- JRook
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 12:59pm
  Supporting him again is a great example of you can’t fix stupid.
  
  Report this comment
mcsledge
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 12:53pm
A Republican President with a Republican Congress and a Democratic Sentate will not bode well for the changes that need to be made in America. Especially if the inept Reid is left in charge. Conservatives, Republicans and Independents should seek to take over as many Senate seats as possible. If a Conservative or Republican is not possible (and they are different), I’d much rather deal with an Independent in the Senate than a liberal progressive Democrat. At least reason may win the day.

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phillyatheist
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 12:43pm
anyone who votes for this nutcase is part of the problem. i don’t care if you’re a Republican or Democrat, the fact is that this man should not be a representative in a lawmaking body of the United States. backing a man like Akin will continue to diminish the reputation of the Republican Party. want to remain relevant? be smart and avoid people like Todd Akin. that, or risk making the Republican Party irrelevant in the future. hey, be my guest.

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- The_Jerk
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 12:54pm
  Why not? Ted Kennedy was for years. Todd Akin never killed anyone, and got away with it. A comedian, Al Franken is serving.
  What part of that are you not getting?
  
  Report this comment
- Exrepublisheep
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 12:55pm
  Great post.
  
  Report this comment
- BetterInformed
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 12:56pm
  Try prayer !
  
  Report this comment
- QuincySmith
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 12:57pm
  al franken, a comedian? Really?
  
  Report this comment
- booger71
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 1:27pm
  My support for him never wavered. Glad he is fighting.
  
  Report this comment
- DoGooder
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 1:41pm
  You and your ilk are the problem. Shut up and go back to your “not believe” religion. We have freedom from you!
  
  Report this comment
- no_muslim
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 4:19pm
  @ The_Jerk…..Good post. I agree and have often wondered why Ted was elected so many times.
  
  Report this comment
martyinhagerstown
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 12:43pm
We all have a few percent of CRAZY ideas or concepts floating around in our heads. Sometimes we say them and then take a spanking and LEARN and grow.

Those that are so guarded about everything they say (not wanting to say anything slightly off top dead center) are GOP RINOS. When you act on passion and hopefully principles sometimes you get yourself into trouble…it happens.

Do we agree with 100% of a candidate…? NOPE. Not even with a conservative, bible believing, really trying to do the right thing candidate.

What this does prove is that THE GOP ESTABLISHMENT AND THEIR OPINION DOESNT REALLY MEAN SH|T unless they are espoused on the Sunday shows RINO ROUNDUP.

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digitalPimple.com
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 12:38pm
Yes. I don’t care if the man ripped his shirt open and an alien popped out… I would support him over whats in there now.

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- QuincySmith
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 12:46pm
  Great avatar.
  
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Tri-ox
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 12:33pm
Well, it’s a choice between Akin or McCaskill – What else can they do?

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- Anonymous T. Irrelevant
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 12:58pm
  Pitting McCaskill back in is the same as voting for Oblameus. The Republicans need to take both houses, if they lose the presidency. Hopefully, Owebama and McCaskill will be defeated, providing all those dead people and cartoon characters stay home.
  
  Report this comment
SquidVetOhio
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 12:26pm
God I hope he wins. It would be a giant slap in the face to the GOP establishment.

Memo Karl Rove, you are no longer relevant.

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- The_Jerk
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 12:33pm
  Rove engineered the destruction of the Republican party.
  
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- momrules
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 12:52pm
  Squid………..I hope he wins too. I get tired of just some people being vilified for one an ignorant remark while others can just get by with it over and over again.
  
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- Blazed_and_Confused
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 12:58pm
  Rove is playing a long game. He is more relevant today than he’s ever been…for now.
  
  Report this comment
- swamp_donkey
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 3:30pm
  well youve lost the whitehouse
  
  Report this comment
elosogrande
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 12:23pm
The problem with Akin is that he believed that what he said was true. Why don’t the Republican nit wits get it. Akin is too stupid to be allowed a seat in The Congress of my country.

Republicans must find people with at least average intelligence, or get out of Washington

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- The_Jerk
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 12:32pm
  Are you kidding me, or are you that stupid. There’s not much intelligence in ‘your Congress’ right now.
  
  Report this comment
- QuincySmith
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 12:44pm
  elo;
  
  Are you a troll? Let me list a few congress critters and you tell me what party they belong to:
  1) Maxine Waters
  2) John Conyers
  3) Hank “Guam” Johnson
  4) Al Franken
  
  Report this comment
- Stoic one
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 12:50pm
  what shining light do you see there now?
  
  Report this comment
- wbvrjr
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 12:51pm
  My wife was taught in her RN training years ago in substance what Akin said, It was just a poor choice of adjective. The one to be sent to the garbage heap is RNC Chairman Reince Priebus for his “we aren’t playing in Missouri” comment.
  
  Report this comment
- swamp_donkey
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 3:32pm
  well if allen west , peter king , and louie gomert can have seats well i’d say a head of cabbage can serve
  
  Report this comment
- QuincySmith
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 6:22pm
  Make way for swampy, the brightest bulb on this thread!
  
  Report this comment
lisalake
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 12:19pm
He should NEVER have been thrown under the bus in the first place!

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- QuincySmith
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 12:52pm
  I’m glad he stayed in the race. I don’t know what is wrong with the establishment gop. If a gop candidate ‘mis-speaks’, he is ostracized, told to leave the race, looses funding, and written off. democRATs on the, other hand, get to ‘mis-speak’, and lie; and the party circles the wagons around them. I’m glad I’m no longer a republican, even though I HAVE to vote for them.
  
  Report this comment
Annette Burns
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 12:17pm
I am a registered, independent voter in Missouri. I WILL be voting for Todd Akin, as will all the people I have talked to. Our State and Country can no longer accept the acts of Claire McCaskill. She has been nothing more than a cheerleader for obama. We are going to take our country back.

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- Capt_Gregg
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 12:53pm
  I voted for Sarah Steelman in the primary. For me, it was pretty much a toss-up between her and Akin, who now has my full support.
  
  Rove is a washed-up has-been, who has cut his own throat over his treatment of Akin. He either does not realize or cannot accept that — just as the Whigs morphed into the Republican party — the Republicans are now morphing into the Tea Party with each new election.
  
  Report this comment
The_Jerk
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 12:12pm
This fiasco has been political suicide for the Republican party. Who else do they have? No one. Better get on board the Akin train, or for sure it will be McCaskill. Republicans need that seat.

Look, many are being asked to squeeze their noses and vote for Romney. What’s the diff?

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BetterInformed
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 12:08pm
Good news. Tell Rove.

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Sirfoldallot
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 12:07pm
Get behind him !

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Delores at CH WV
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 12:06pm
He was elected by the People to run for the Republicans; It is this choice or Jill Biden’s sister. Which one do you think has your back? This was an ambush on this man where Repubs and Dems threw him under the bus. Was that fair? It your vote. Choose the best to save this nation.

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samtree
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 12:06pm
Is it too late for Thadeus McCotter for president?

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