Honestly . . . just when Newsweek hands the conservative movement a major victory in the MSM wars, along comes Todd Akin to throw the Left a life jacket and change the course of the conversation. From CNN:
Republicans began distancing themselves from U.S. Rep. Todd Akin late Sunday and Monday after the Missouri congressman and candidate for Senate claimed “legitimate rape” rarely resulted in pregnancy.
Akin was explaining his opposition to abortion even in cases of rape, a viewpoint he shares with other conservative members of the Republican Party, including Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, Mitt Romney’s vice presidential running mate.
Note the instant pivot from sure-loser Akin (who should immediately step down and be replaced on the Missouri ballot before he can do any further damage) to Paul Ryan; brilliant, really. Good to see Governor Romney come down hard on Akin, but he needs to take the party’s reins firmly in hand and force him out. The 2012 election is not about abortion or any of the other social issues, and unless damage control is effected very swiftly, this meme will metastasize and hurt both Romney and the party’s chances of taking control of the Senate.
A day after Missouri Congressman and Senate candidate Todd Akin shared with the world his belief that “legitimate rape” rarely results in pregnancy because “the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down,” some Republican pundits and strategists are suggesting that the party shut Akin down — that is, replace him with someone else in what used to be a very winnable race against incumbent Democrat Claire McCaskill. And not just any winnable race, mind you, but a race that would be integral to the GOP’s hopes of taking control of the Senate. However, as Think Progress notes, under Missouri law, it would be impossible to get someone else on the ballot unless Akin steps down by tomorrow.
Of course, Democrats never let little things like state law stop them from fixing electoral mistakes like this one, but that’s the way the double standard works. Deal with it, GOP — you still have Sarah Steelman’s phone number, right?