Posted on 08/22/2012 2:23:25 PM PDT by Da Bilge Troll
Has the Establishment GOP painted themselves into an embarassing corner?
As 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug 21 came and passed, no stars fell from the skies. There was no hail of fire and no swarms of locusts; but a quiet cataclysm of epic proportions was in fact taking place.
The deadline for Todd Akin to drop out of the senate race without triggering involvement of the courts came and passed, and Akin announced he’s still ‘in-it-to-win-it.’
Within hours of Akin’s ill-fated interview on the St Louis Fox affiliate station, where his poorly phrased comments on rape and abortion ignited a firestorm of controversy, a chorus of demands for him to bow out of the race came not from the Left but from the GOP Establishment Machine!
Some of these calls came from supporters of Akin’s primary opponents, perhaps seeing a potential opportunity for a Mulligan. Sour grapes.
The majority of the demands for Akin’s head, however, came from the “establishment” wing of the Republican Party. You know; the Rove, Blunt, Danforth types. There is no great love between these machine politicians and the grassroots or tea party conservatives. Akin was not their choice to represent Missouri to begin with. They view his reliably conservative, principled views as inconsistent with their more moderate stance. So when he made a gaffe, instead of defending and assisting him, they piled on with a vengeance. They condemned him more vociferously and venomously than the dems would have (and the dems sat back and let the GOP do their dirty work!) They pulled Akin’s GOP funding. The “machine” fear the people of Missouri will turn on Akin and re-elect Clair McCaskill, threatening a GOP majority in the Senate. We’ll talk about that in a moment...
(Excerpt) Read more at examiner.com ...
How about what is best for the country. Not who is winning what round.
What if he WINS?
Wonder if Obamacare will still be standing after this fight?
A GOP that stood on principal and backed conservatives would be best for the country.
Calling Akin to resign? GOP establishment! Or even worse, liberal media! Never mind that 'enemy' of GOP establishments, including Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Allen West, Scott Walker, Tea Party Express, and so on, have called Akin to withdraw. As have prominent conservative media. The ones that want him to stay so far are his opponents, liberal media, and a faction of social conservatives that would prefer the election about abortion in case of rape rather than about the economy.
What do you think is best for the country, and why?
My personal opinion: Akin has serious issues with his choice of words, and if elected will have more massive gaffes. Whether or not he is right about what our abortion laws should say, anyone with the political instincts to go about his own business without setting our side back severely would know that rape is a sensitive topic. A sensible person would not abbreviate whatever concept he had in mind as "legitimate rape", if he was careless enough to bring up the discussion at all. Akin will turn out to be worse than Joe Biden, if we keep him and if he manages to win. Also, the "research" he believed on the woman's body shutting down to avoid pregnancy is low quality research. I would prefer a Senator who could read critically, even when he likes the conclusions. My vote: Akin should withdraw in favor of a conservative who has not committed a fatal gaffe.
Akin vs Establishment GOP round 1: Akin
should be Dems and Akin vs Establishment GOP round 1:Dems and Akin
McCaskill did spend 1.5 million on the primary to engineer him to be her opponent. And has made statements he should stay in? The Dems want him rather than another pro lifer in because they know Akin can beat himself.McCaskill’s biggest weapon in this campaign is her opponent’s mouth. McCaskill can just take a vacation until November and pray Akin does not get laryngitis.
It appears that the GOP establishment would rather have McCaskill in the Senate seat rather than allow a principled conservative to have it.
McCaskill must go. Therefore, we should support him. Duh.
What if he doesn't?
The pure idiocy and bad timing of his actions could very well blunt or kill an almost certain national level democrat rout.
It isn't a question of how defensible his statements are, or if he desrves republican and conservative support.
It is a question of what the democrats and the Obama media can, will and are doing with the issue he created.
He handed them a gold-plated bonus. Just when it looked as if their bogus charges of a republlican "war on Women" was failing he breathed new life into it for them.
He was not considering the larger need and benefit to the country when he selfishly decided to fight on. His mere presence keeps the issue alive for the democrats.
I cannot vote for him, but I will withhold my vote if I were living in MO. He’s not ready for the senate, no matter how long he’s been in the House, if he couldn’t handle questions that should have been expected from the media. Then, he actually cited PPP that oversampled Republicans to show he’s up by 1 percent!
Akin has serious issues with his choice of words, and if elected will have more massive gaffes.
***
Open Primaries gave us this.
I believe you.
Then you have +6 other Senate seats up for grabs. Go win Florida and you will have +7.
The sky will not fall if Akin loses. So why the push to get him out???
Akin vs anyone with a brain. No wonder the dems wanted him as their opponent! He is the gift that will keep on giving for the dems and the lib media.
Akin will step down in a few weeks.
1. Lack of money, some donors are asking for their donations be returned. Rep senate committee cut off funds. Sate GOP will not help.
2. You can’t run a campaign without money and this will evidently sink in to Akin.
3. Who will campaign with him? He is toxic in Mo no other Rep running will stand with him.
4. Who will help him organize his campaign? The state and county GOP organizations will not want to be associated and tainted by being associated with him. He can’t do this on his own. See 1,2and 3 above. He is isolated and alone in this state and that will eventually sink in.
5. On Tuesday night, he was the next senator from Mo. A few days later it was pulled from underneath him. He will need a few weeks to let that wound heal, but he will eventually realize his position.
6. He has his political reputation and legacy to consider. If he doesn’t step down and he loses, he will be the most despised politician in the state. If steps down in a dignified manner to help his party, he will leave with some sense of respect. Remember the Dem convention is coming up in a few weeks, he doesn’t want his name dragged through the mud every night on national TV.
I’m sure the good people of MO are exceedingly grateful you do not live in their state. I know I would be.
The people who regard this as a “establishment vs Akin” battle are at worst guilty of mis-direction. It’s easier to blame the always shadowy (insert sinister laugh here) Establishment than to accept the fact that their candidate committed a massive faux pas.
At best, these same people think that dead aliens are being hidden at Area 51, think that Elvis Presley is still alive and remain convinced that a black helicopter was following them last week, tracking their movements.
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