Courtesy of Real Clear Politics:

Chuck Todd, NBC News: The entire political community should be held accountable for this, including the Romney campaign. They’ve lost some traction on the economy and I don’t know why.

Laura Ingraham: But you don’t think the fact that the most, not all, but most in the media establishment have spent the last 48 plus hours obsessing about the comments of one Republican senatorial candidate trying to tar the pro-life movement, Paul Ryan, all of it, with the comments of one man. You don’t think that gets in the way of Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney speaking about economic renewal?

Todd: Well, this is a chicken and egg conversation. This is a distraction. I don’t think it’s a distraction you can quote, blame on the media on this one. It’s not media bias, it’s media, it’s what they’re covering, and the fact is we are under-covering the economy, we are under-covering — but you cover the campaign that is in front of you

This is classic liberal math.  It’s easy and stupid. Akin is representative of the entire GOP.  According to Gateway Pundit, the Obama team is starting to fundraise off of this equation. Leading the charge is Sandra Fluke–who penned this letter featured on Obama’s campaign website.

In a recent statement that was both factually inaccurate and horribly offensive, Republican Missouri Senate candidate Rep. Todd Akin said that victims of “legitimate rape” don’t get pregnant because “the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan tried to distance themselves from the remark—but the fact is they’re in lockstep with Akin on the major women’s health issues of our time. Just this morning, the Republican Party voted to include the “Human Life Amendment” in their platform, calling for a constitutional ban on abortions nationwide, even for rape victims. Several Romney supporters and advisers stood silently by while this vote took place, and the Los Angeles Times reports that the platform “was written at the direction of Romney’s campaign.”

President Obama spoke out yesterday in response to Akin’s comments: “What I think these comments do underscore is why we shouldn’t have a bunch of politicians, a majority of whom are men, making health care decisions on behalf of women.”

This controversy is not an accident, or a mistake, or an isolated incident. It’s a reflection of a Republican Party whose policies are dangerous for women.

There is a clear choice for women in this election.

I entered this national debate on women’s rights in February, when, as a Georgetown Law student, I testified before members of Congress on the issue of contraception.

Without knowing me or my story, Rush Limbaugh called me a “slut” and a “prostitute” on his radio show.

Many Americans stepped forward to tell me they agreed with me, and supported my right to speak out without being verbally attacked. President Obama stood with us.

Mitt Romney, on the other hand? He didn’t even condemn the remark, instead saying only: “It’s not the language I would have used.”

Since that moment, I’m even more resolved to continue the fight to make sure every single woman—and every man who cares about the women in his life—knows exactly what’s at stake in this election. The Republicans are frighteningly clear on these issues.

The party platform itself includes a “salute” to states that have pushed “informed consent” laws, such as those that force women seeking an abortion to first undergo an invasive and medically unnecessary ultrasound.

Just last year, Paul Ryan joined Todd Akin and more than 200 other Republicans in co-sponsoring legislation that would have narrowed the definition of rape, limiting which victims of rape were “legitimate” enough to receive financial assistance for access to abortion care.

Mitt Romney famously says he would “get rid of” Planned Parenthood if he had the chance. And both Romney and Ryan pledge to go back to a system where insurance companies can discriminate against women and charge us more than men for the same health insurance.

Akin’s comments shouldn’t be surprising. But this isn’t about him—just like it was never about me.

President Obama has told us what he’s fighting for: “I want women to control their own health choices, just like I want my daughters to have the same opportunities as your sons.”

Republicans, led by Romney and Ryan, have made it clear that they want to make our decisions for us.

President Obama trusts us to make our own.

It’s as simple as that.

The narrative has shifted thanks to Akin.  Let’s give him a round of applause for this avoidable distraction that could cost us a Republican congress an much more less that 100 days from Election Day.  Drop out!

UPDATE:  If Chuck Todd seriously thinks the media isn’t to blame, then then he will be hard pressed to explain their obsession over Akin’s gaffe for 96 minutes over a three an a half day period.

As reported by Scott Whitlock of the Media Research Center:

The media obsession with a gaffe by Congressman Todd Akin continued on Wednesday and Thursday morning. The ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts and morning shows offered five additional segments, bringing the amount of coverage to a massive 96 minutes (and 45 segments) over three and a half days. The disparity between Akin and gaffe-prone Vice President Biden’s “chains” controversy from last week is now five-to-one.

The massive amount of coverage is obviously favorable to the Democrats, a point Good Morning America co-host George Stephanopoulos underlined: “Mitt Romney hoping to shake off those controversial comments from Congressman Todd Akin about abortion and rape. President Obama and his team doing everything they can to make it stick.”

Reporter Jake Tapper helpfully parroted that the Democrats are “trying to turn [Akin] into Mitt Romney’s second running mate.”

He added, “The White House trying to link Paul Ryan to Akin because they both backed a bill that would have narrowed one of the few exceptions for federally funded abortions, from instances of rape to forcible rape.”

All things being equal, it wouldn’t have been the end of the world for the GOP to have their own little Joe Biden running around in the Senate. Bumbling politicians like that do have their place in this country – if nothing else, they liven up the news broadcasts, and give us something to laugh at from time to time. You know, there are whiny left-wing psychologists out there that say laughter is actually good for us! And let’s be real here. What did Akin do that was really so wrong, when you consider it in the entire conservative political landscape? The GOP doesn’t make an exception for abortions after a rape anyway. And as for the contention that women’s bodies have a mechanism to prevent pregnancy as a result of forced sex, Akin wasn’t completely off base – there is a scientific theory on it that is rooted in evolutionary theory at least a little. No, I am not suggesting that I condone or agree with what Akin said (nor do I agree with the GOP platform on abortion, for that matter.) What I am saying is that yet again, the GOP has dropped the ball, and allowed the Dems to control the narrative.

The proverbial ball is in Akin’s court right now, and I’m not going to editorialize on what I think he should do. Bluntly, I don’t think that he is paying attention to what anyone is saying on that anyway. What I will say is that the GOP needs to seriously think about what happens to the next Akin. Does the party throw that person under the bus like happened to Akin? Or does the party start getting the message out that when a Republican politician screws up, rule of thumb is that the party and pundits go in lockstep to protect them? Complain all you like about the Dems, but they’ve been doing the latter for ages, and – surprise, surprise – it works for them.

This isn’t a question about principles. It is a question about strategy. The only one talking about principles now is Akin, and he’s trying desperately to keep standing as the sand’s disappearing beneath his feet. But, that wouldn’t necessarily be the situation. We’ve been complaining about distractions being used by Obama to keep eyes off the major issues, and now? We’re feeding that fire, to the point where Mitt Romney had to finally chime in on the situation. I finished the last story I wrote on this with “It’s the economy, stupid!” This fight wasn’t worth fighting, and now, Akin should recognize he’s finished. He’s not going to be the GOP’s Biden. Sure, that might not seem a big deal, but he’s also a lost opportunity.

When life gives you lemons…. Akin’s “lemonade” would have been an excellent indictment against the continuation of Obamacare. But, instead of owning the situation, the right literally handed it to the mainstream media and left on a silver platter. In the future, we need to think about what lemonade we can make of the lemons our politicians hand us, before we let the left keep us from making the best of the situation. Is the GOP really out there to focus on the real issues, or are we going to pander to the left-wing distractions? Which is more important here:

I’m more concerned with the debt. How about you?

The Franklin Center’s Erik Telford and His Tweet About This Whole Debacle

Todd Akin, it’s almost unbelievable how fast your campaign went off the tracks.  To say that there are legitimate forms of assault is beyond ludicrous.  Then, to say if a pregnancy occurs, due to a legitimate rape, “the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”  What does that mean?   And this wasn’t a gaffe.  As Michelle Malkin aptly said ”there’s no sugar-coating or whitewashing this…it was ignorant, garbled nonsense.”

Here’s what he said again on the Jaco Report:

Charles Jaco: “Okay, so if an abortion can be considered in the case of, say, tubal pregnancy or something like that, what about in the case of rape? Should it be legal or not?”

Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.):“Well, you know, uh, people always want to try to make that as one of those things, ‘Well, how do you – how do you slice this particularly tough sort of ethical question.’

“It seems to me, first of all, from what I understand from doctors, that’s really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.

“But let’s assume that maybe that didn’t work or something. You know, I think there should be some punishment but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child.”

Todd Akin

It’s rational for any conservative to abandon Todd Akin.  He has greatly damaged our chances of having a Republican Congress this year and while I know the war on women is a farce; the left-wingers are going to have a field day with this.  With the Democrat-Media Complex, they’ll flood this story for weeks, distract the Romney/Ryan campaign, and give Obama a comfortable buffer from his dismal economic record.

This whole situation was avoidable.  Akin should have pivoted saying that the people of this state already know my position on abortion, but here’s the real focus of my campaign. I want to get out $16 trillion dollar national debt under control, reform our entitlement programs, restructure the tax system, and cut regulations to help small businesses thrive.  Something on that front.  Social issues aren’t at the heart of this campaign cycle.  Yes, people are passionate about these issues and because of that–folks can go off half-cocked.

Yesterday, I had a little hope that Akin would do the responsible thing.  Perusing through Ace of Spades–I saw that Richard Grennell and Erick Erickson indicated that Akin would drop out. Mark Levin also called for Akin’s exit from the race.

However, Mr. Akin defied us all, stayed in the race, and released a new fragrance  ad today called forgiveness.

Could this be Akin’s Chuck Percy moment?  Although Percy wasn’t slammed for making absurd comments about rape, he was in serious trouble in 1978 and released this ad pleading with the voters of Illinois to give him another term.

In all, this ad would have been more taken more seriously if it were released last Sunday and not today.   Akin should reconsider his decision not to step aside.  There’s still time!  The RNC has cut funding to the Akin campaign and Crossroads GPS has also run for the hills in the wake of this disaster.  Mary Katherine Ham of HotAir cited Phil Klein’s piece in her August 20th post about Akin’s future where he wrote:

Politically, a lot of the analysis as to whether Akin should drop out of the race has focused on whether he could still recover from this horrendous statement and win. A more important question is what kind of senator Republicans would be getting if he could hang on and they could gain a majority in the Senate. Anybody capable of making a statement as simultaneously offensive and moronic as Akin’s is likely to make more such statements. That means, even if Akin wins, he’s likely to embarrass his party for six years and undermine the pro-life cause.

Missouri Republicans have other choices. Both Sarah Steelman andJohn Brunner led troubled Democratic incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill in polls taken during the GOP primary, and both were closer to the Tea Party than Akin (Steelman was endorsed by Sarah Palin). If Akin drops out of the race by tomorrow, the Missouri GOP could still pick another candidate. Akin has caused enough damage already. He should do the right thing and step aside and make room for somebody else while there’s still time.

Lastly, the NRSC released this email, which was posted this morning courtesy of The Gateway Pundit:

Just a quick background update on the situation in the Missouri Senate race. While much of the press coverage has understandably focused on the statements by Republican leaders yesterday regarding Congressman Akin, I wanted to point out for your background that they have been joined by leading conservatives across the country who have called on Congressman Akin to step aside for the good of the party and the pro-life movement he cares so deeply about.

Below are just a few examples for your consideration:

• · Radio/TV Host Sean Hannity urged Akin yesterday to reconsider running and reminded him that “elections are bigger than one person”

• · Radio Host Mark Levin similarly urged Akin to step aside saying this race is far too important to risk losing to the Democrats.

• · National Review’s Jim Geraghty observes, Who Isn’t Calling for Akin’s Withdrawal? Claire McCaskill & Planned Parenthood.

• · Columnist/Radio Host Dennis Prager penned a column for Townhall.com calling on his fellow pro-life leaders to join him in disavowing Akin’s remarks.

• · Columnist Charles Krauthammer on Fox News last night called Akin “toxic” and said “he’s got to go”

• · Radio Host Hugh Hewitt tweeted – “If Akin drops out and GOP wins Senate, he has career. If he stays in and GOP doesn’t win Senate, infamy and injury to prolife cause”

• · Author Ann Coulter penned a column in Human Events calling on Akin to do the right thing and step aside for the good of the pro-life movement

• · National Review editorial board called on Akin to step aside, writing in part, “Akin is a stalwart conservative and an honorable man, we regret to say that he inspires no such confidence”

• · Wall Street Journal editorial board also called on Akin to step aside, writing in part, “Having uttered one of the more offensive and ill-informed comments in recent years, Mr. Akin could cost his party a seat it is favored to win this November and thus possible control of the Senate.”

• · The Tea Party Express called on Akin to step aside saying “It is critical that we defeat Senator Claire McCaskill in November, but it will be too difficult to achieve that with Todd Akin as the conservative alternative.”

I agree with Gateway Pundit that this is brutal, but it’s necessary.  We on the right police our own ranks and purge the un-serious, the insane, and the misbehaved, while the left fails miserably to keep their folks in line.  It’s a sign of accountability.  It’s the right thing that we blame Akin.  It would be even better if he steps down.  Todd, do the right thing.

DonkeyHotey (CC)

Enter Akin, and the race for the Senate seat in Missouri. No matter how wackadoodle the man is when it comes to issues like rape and abortion, he is still a better fiscal choice than his opposition. Call me silly, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the folks in Missouri aren’t any less intelligent than the folks here. I think they are smart enough to realize that in this election, they need to vote in favor of their pocketbooks, not their Bibles. Scream at Akin, and demand an apology or retraction of his silly statement about legitimate rape victims (whatever that means) not being able to get pregnant against their will. But, stop demanding that he step aside.

Seriously, this is not worth it. He’ll eat crow for this one way or the other, and even if he doesn’t, the bottom line is that there is no way he could ever cause a law against abortion without exceptions for rape victims to be passed. Bluntly, there are far too many big fish to fry before anyone even thinks about this on the Hill. If nothing else, take it from a woman who could have easily ended up in need of an abortion after a rape. Akin’s statement is meaningless in the grand scheme of things. It was ignorant, and he should apologize for it. But, handing that seat back to Claire McCaskill over this is overkill.

I don’t know what Akin will do to make up for this, if anything. But, the priceless response would be an apology, and perhaps something about not bowing to Islam, and the practice of rape and forced conversion. I can dream, can’t I?

UPDATE: Akin did respond. Yes, he did say that he misspoke, and expressed his feelings of empathy for victims of rape. And, more importantly, he placed the focus back where it really belongs:

“But I also believe that this election is about a wide-range of very important issues, starting with the economy and the type of country we will be leaving our children and grandchildren. We’ve had 42 straight months of unacceptably high unemployment, trillion dollar deficits, and Democratic leaders in Washington who are focused on growing government, instead of jobs. That is my primary focus in this campaign and while there are those who want to distract from that, knowing they cannot defend the Democrats’ failed economic record of the last four years, that will continue to be my focus in the months ahead.”

“It’s the economy, stupid!”