Since the former media morphed into a propaganda mouthpiece for liberal candidates. Large numbers of Americans still get their "news" from the alphabet-soup networks, CNN, PBS and MSNBC. GOPers can and often do fight back, but they have massive media filters through which they have to pound their message. Much as it's wrong, it's still the dynamic under which GOP candidates have to operate. Dems can say off-the-cuff crap all day long, but the expectation is that's par for them. The bar for GOPers is simply higher.
And to clarify... though exiting and giving a more viable candidate a shot at winning would've been the wiser move, the time for Akin to do that has passed, and like it or not, Akin is the one going forward. Besides... he's probably having the time of his life campaigning.
Sorry, I just don't accept that premise or assumption. We must at least try another approach, i.e., confrontation, than our current response, which isn't working. The more we cave in, the more it encourages the MSM to continue with their tactics.