OpinionTrending Commentary

Is Todd Akin Indebted to The Left?

If an aide on the Todd Akin senatorial campaign ever writes a book about this race, it should be called “the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad campaign.” Rep. Akin started by saying that a woman has a way to shutdown a pregnancy if a “legitimate rape ” occurs. While most on the left, especially feminists, focused on the rape aspect, the stupidest part of the statement is Akin’s imaginary thinking concerning the female anatomy. No, women don’t have countermeasures within the Fallopian tubes to stop an unwanted pregnancy.

It begs the question, if Akin doesn’t know basic facts about human anatomy, what else doesn’t he know? Furthermore, is he so bad at articulating a point of view that he makes the Republican Party, the pro-life cause, and the conservative movement a comedic punchline? That’s probably the most important point since Americans don’t want clowns in Congress. Just look at Dennis Kucinich. However, in terms of making a joke of conservatism, Akin’s already done that. The next senator from Missouri will be a person voting on bills to balance the budget, keep America safe, and reduce the amount of government intrusion into our lives. We need to have serious people making these decisions. Yes, Akin maybe a solid conservative, but if he has Joe Biden syndrome, then we could be defending this man’s gaffes against some in the media.

To make matters worse, last month:

Akin told The Kansas City Star in an interview published Thursday that McCaskill did not act very “ladylike” in their debate…causing more backlash from both sides of the aisle.

“I think we have a very clear path to victory, and apparently Claire McCaskill thinks we do, too, because she was very aggressive at the debate, which was quite different than it was when she ran against Jim Talent,” Akin said. “She had a confidence and was much more ladylike (in 2006), but in the debate on Friday she came out swinging, and I think that’s because she feels threatened.”

This comes after he received support from Sen. Rick Santorum and Sen. Jim DeMint. Then, we find out that he failed to report his pension benefits on his taxes. In fact, he had to amend “a decade’s worth of federal financial reports to add nearly $130,000 in state pension income that he received over that time. Akin’s office provided The Associated Press with a copy of the updated personal financial disclosure reports Thursday after being asked why he had not listed his retirement benefits. Akin’s office released a letter dated Tuesday to the House Ethics Committee in which the Republican congressman described the lack of information about his pension payments as an ‘unintentional oversight.”

Here’s how the media would frame him. He’s a “sexist, misogynist, and a tax evader.” This would have ended most campaigns, but given four consecutive trillion dollar deficits, unemployment above 8% for over forty consecutive months (although, it’s “dropped” to 7.8%), and $ 6 trillion dollars in new debt – he’s able to stick around. He also has the benefit of living in a ‘reddish’ state.

On October 15, Ed Morrissey posted that Akin’s race isn’t lost.

A new poll from Wenzel Strategies (via James Hohmann at Politico’s Morning Score) might show a glimmer of that hope, however. The likely-voter survey puts Akin up four points over McCaskill, 48.9/44.7, with 87% of the vote firm. The sample on this poll has a D/R/I of 38/37/25, more Democratic than the 2010 midterm turnout in Missouri of 34/37/28, although not as Democratic as the 2008 turnout model of 40/34/26 that nonetheless gave John McCain a narrow win in the state.

However, a couple of points should be kept in mind. First, this is a poll conducted on behalf of a partisan client, Citizens United Political Victory Fund, and Wenzel does a lot of work for Republicans. We’d be suspicious of PPP polls, so it’s fair to note this. Second, the poll also shows Mitt Romney ahead of Barack Obama by almost 14 points, 54.9/41.1, while the RCP average for MO is Romney +5.2%. The last poll in that series, though, was conducted before the first debate, and it’s entirely possible that the race in Missouri has shifted significantly since. It’s worth noting that Obama’s favorability in the poll is 49.5/49.1, so it’s not as though this has an overwhelming tilt.

Nevertheless, “why not pitch in? Akin’s the Republican candidate, and the race is definitely not lost. Romney doesn’t need the help in Missouri, but defeating McCaskill would be a huge boost to Republican hopes of controlling the Senate. Furthermore, the continued competitiveness of this race shows that the damage from the gaffe has receded. Thanks to McCaskill’s blanketing of the state on the gaffe, it’s done all the damage it could possibly do now. Those voters who might still change their minds won’t be changing horses based on that now.”

Since Akin is operating with zero money from the NRSC and Rove’s Crossroads GPS after ‘rape-gate,’ it would be a miracle if he were a pull off a win on November 6. However, it will be because Obama’s failed economic policies provided him the buffer, and the fact that Claire McCaskill is no moderate budget hawk – which is the narrative she’s trying to convey.

However, if Akin wins, I don’t want to hear the complaints from far left, the feminists, and the other Obamabots on how awful America is becoming, and the ‘evil’ within the Republican Party because it was Barack Obama’s policies that sent him to Washington. If anything, Akin owes the political left his career. If things go his way, it would be because failed big government liberal policies kept him alive.

I have no dog in this fight, but let’s just say I won’t be happy if McCaskill is sent back to D.C.

Support Conservative Daily News with a small donation via Paypal or credit card that will go towards supporting the news and commentary you've come to appreciate.

Matt Vespa

I'm a staunch Republican and a politics junkie who was recently the Executive Director for the Dauphin County Republican Committee in Harrisburg. Before that, I interned with the Republican Party of Pennsylvania in the summer of 2011 and Mary Pat Christie, First Lady of NJ, within the Office of the Governor of NJ in 2010. I was responsible for updating his personal contact list. My first political internship was with Tom Kean Jr's. U.S. Senate campaign in 2006.

Related Articles

Back to top button