Deadline intensifies pressure on Mo. congressman

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

By JIM SALTER

Associated Press

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Rep. Todd Akin vowed to fight on in his embattled Senate campaign, but a significant deadline loomed Tuesday that was bound to intensify pressure on the Missouri congressman to abandon the race over his comments that women’s bodies can prevent pregnancies in cases of “legitimate rape.”

Akin has been frantically trying to salvage his once-promising bid against incumbent Democrat Claire McCaskill in a race long targeted by the GOP as crucial to regaining control of the Senate. But ominous signs were mounting against the six-term legislator from suburban St. Louis, most notably the apparent loss of millions of dollars in campaign advertising money.

Early Tuesday Akin posted an apology video online, but made no mention of the race. He went on two conservative radio shows Monday, pledging to keep the campaign alive, even as some people in his own party urged him to step aside.

The decision has some urgency. Missouri election law allows candidates to withdraw 11 weeks before Election Day. That means the deadline to exit the Nov. 6 election is 5 p.m. Tuesday. Otherwise, a court order would be needed to remove a name from the ballot.

“I was told the decision has to be made by 5 tomorrow, but I was calling you and letting you know that I’m announcing today that we’re in,” Akin told radio host Sean Hannity.

In a radio interview with former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, Akin repeatedly apologized for the remarks but also vowed to stay in the race.

“The good people of Missouri nominated me, and I’m not a quitter,” Akin said.

The uproar began Sunday, when St. Louis television station KTVI aired an interview in which Akin was asked if he would support abortions for women who have been raped.

“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,” Akin said.

Later Sunday, Akin released a statement saying that he “misspoke” during the interview.

In the interviews with Huckabee and Hannity, he apologized repeatedly, acknowledging that rape can lead to conception.

“Rape is never legitimate. It’s an evil act. It’s committed by violent predators,” Akin said. “I used the wrong words the wrong way.”

But the damage had already been done. The comments drew a sharp rebuke from fellow Republicans, including presumptive presidential nominee Mitt Romney and his vice presidential choice, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.

The Senate’s top Republican said Akin’s comments about rape might “prevent him from effectively representing” the Republican Party. Mitch McConnell called on Akin to “take time with his family” to consider whether he should continue in the Missouri Senate race.

Two other Republican senators, Scott Brown of Massachusetts and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, urged Akin to resign.

Akin also apparently lost a key source of funding. Sen. John Cornyn, head of the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, told Akin that $5 million in advertising set aside for Missouri will be spent elsewhere and that Akin will get no other help from the committee, according to a committee official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the conversation was private.

Cornyn told Akin that he was endangering the GOP’s hopes of getting a Senate majority by staying in the race, the official said.

At least one outside group that has pounded McCaskill with ads, the Karl Rove-backed Crossroads organization, also pulled its ads from Missouri.

In an apparent effort to claw back some of that funding, Akin posted a video to YouTube early Tuesday in which he described himself as a compassionate father of two daughters, apologized for his poor choice of words and clarified that he understands the possible outcome of rape.

“Fact is, rape can lead to pregnancy. The truth is rape has many victims. The mistake I made was in the words I said, not in the heart I hold. I ask for your forgiveness,” he said.

President Barack Obama said Monday that Akin’s comments underscore why politicians — most of whom are men — should not make health decisions on behalf of women.

“Rape is rape,” Obama said. And the idea of distinguishing among types of rape “doesn’t make sense to the American people and certainly doesn’t make sense to me.”

It was just two weeks ago that Akin was at the top of the political world in Missouri after winning a hotly contested three-way battle with millionaire businessman John Brunner and former state Treasurer Sarah Steelman for the right to challenge McCaskill in the November election. Missouri has grown increasingly conservative in recent years, and McCaskill is seen as vulnerable.

She was not among those calling for her opponent to get out of the race.

“What’s startling to me is that (Republican) Party bigwigs are coming down on him and saying that he needs to kick sand in the face of all the primary voters,” McCaskill said at a campaign event Monday in suburban St. Louis. “I want Missourians to make a choice in this election based on policy, not backroom politics.”

Names are being floated about a possible replacement for Akin. A favorite is Tom Schweich, the state auditor who was courted to run for Senate earlier this year but declined.

Other names mentioned include former Sen. Jim Talent, who lost to McCaskill in 2008; former Gov. Matt Blunt, the son of Missouri’s other senator, Roy Blunt; two members of Missouri’s House delegation, Blaine Luetkemeyer and Jo Ann Emerson; and Akin’s two unsuccessful primary opponents, Brunner and Steelman.

Talent, who lost his seat to McCaskill in 2006, said Monday he had been asked to run but replied: “I’m not running for the Senate.”

“I’m totally ruling it out,” Talent said in Tampa, Fla.

University of Missouri-St. Louis political scientist Dave Robertson said any candidate who might replace Akin would face significant challenges so close to the election.

“You’re going to be on the defensive and starting from behind with a very short time to go,” Robertson said.

Missouri has faced awkward situations in Senate elections before. In 2000, Democratic candidate Mel Carnahan died in a plane crash three weeks before the November election. His name remained on the ballot, and he defeated Republican incumbent John Ashcroft.

Carnahan’s widow, Jean, served for two years before losing in a special election to Talent.

If Akin were to leave, state law gives the Republican state committee two weeks to name a replacement. The new candidate must file within 28 days of Akin’s exit.

The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said a woman who is raped “has no control over ovulation, fertilization or implantation of a fertilized egg (i.e., pregnancy). To suggest otherwise contradicts basic biological truths.”

Between 10,000 and 15,000 abortions nationwide occur each year among women whose pregnancies resulted from rape or incest. An unknown number of babies are born to rape victims, the group said.

Research on the prevalence of rape and rape-related pregnancies is spotty. One estimate published in 1996 said about 5 percent of rapes result in pregnancy, or about 32,000 pregnancies among adult women each year.

Still, the idea about rape and pregnancy has been raised in anti-abortion circles for at least three decades.

Leon Holmes, onetime head of Arkansas Right to Life, wrote in a 1980 letter to a newspaper that concern for rape victims “is a red herring because conceptions from rape occur with the same frequency as snow in Miami.” Holmes went on to become a federal judge.

Abortion foes in the Pennsylvania and North Carolina legislatures have made similar statements. And in Arkansas in 1998, Republican Senate candidate Fay Boozman came under fire for saying pregnancies from rape were uncommon. He apologized and later acknowledged that his unsuccessful campaign never recovered from the criticism. He died in 2005.

———

Associated Press writers Henry Jackson in Washington; Lindsey Tanner in Chicago; Jim Suhr in St. Louis; Chris Blank in Jefferson City, Mo.; Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Ark.; and Bill Draper in Kansas City, Mo., contributed to this report.

More like this story

JCLifer 9 months ago

Todd, drop from the race now! You are gonna let Claire walk right back in if you don't drop out. You think people are mad at you now, well you ain't seen nothin' yet.

newone 9 months ago

He is not a better choice, anyone who can say what he said and not think what he said was wrong shouldn't be running for any type of office, if he thinks like this about abortion it scares me the way he will think on other issues. He needs to step down and let someone else take his place, someone that will actually win over McCaskill.

copcamaro 9 months ago

JC Lifter: I agree with you fullu!! Anyone with an oz of brains knows this was a slip of the tongue and he knows this is not true! I would still vote for him but as you said this Clueless Claire would bounce back in and I sure as heck hope she is defeted!

Sequoia 9 months ago

In what way was this "a slip of the tongue"? What do you think Akin said that you're saying he knows is not true?

The Republican party platform opposes leagl abortion, even in the case of rape and incest. Isn't Akin just stating the Republican party official line? How are you saying he messed up?

seeno 9 months ago

copcamaro, are you a cop or former cop? Because if you are I wouldn't want you on the scene in case of a rape. Slip of the tongue? Really? This reasoning is not new and it has been on the scene since the Nazi's did experiments on women to test a hypothesis "by selecting women who were about to ovulate and sending them to the gas chambers, only to bring them back after their realistic mock-killing, to see what the effect this had on their ovulatory patterns. An extremely high percentage of these women did not ovulate." Then in 1972 this theory was built upon for over three decades by Dr Fred Mecklenburg MD and a trained OB/GYN and it is still being told as fact to this date. Akins statement did have supporters including Bryan Fischer, director of issue analysis for the American Family Association, a conservative Christian group, on his program "Focal Point," citing "John Willke, who is an M.D. general practioner who is trained in obstetrics. This is taught as fact by well educated medicaly trained people (I would not call them professional, though) to other non medical well educated individuals. It's a good thing it is brought to light and people need to learn from this and not take every thing they hear as the Gospel truth. I think person with a half ounce brain could figure it out that this is pure bunk.

newone 9 months ago

A quote from the KRCG website, "Akin told former GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee on Huckabee's radio show Tuesday that he hasn't done anything morally or ethically wrong, but got a "word in the wrong place."...really?????? The fact that he doesn't think he said anything wrong is the reason this man should not hold any office..this just makes me sick!

TickledPink 9 months ago

You can rearrange that sentence any way you'd like and it's still dispicable. 2.5 hours left for him to withdraw. I'd love to see a decent Republican candidate running. I want to believe there is such a thing.

Gabrielle 9 months ago

I wish this time and energy was directed towards more serious things like improving our schools to address the high school drop out rate, for example. What about the crime - how can we address the root cause?

tonto_goldberg 9 months ago

You and John keep offering up distractions. People need to understand this is simply wrong. Politicians like Akin are the reason we have such problems with improving our schools, addressing the high drop out rate, crime, the root cause, etc. Those things are difficult and complicated and and expensive to fix, but picking on pregnant women is easy when you are not one of them.

dokeus6 9 months ago

Yea! Its clear to everyone on this blog that Claire made him say that.

dokeus6 9 months ago

I'm just agreeing with you Grace. It's Claire's fault. Yea Yea Her fault tell her to rescind the nomination.

dokeus6 9 months ago

What Grace? I'm agreeing with you. I thought you would ecstatic.

John 9 months ago

Talk about distractions. You are blaming Ryan, because he answered a question stupidly, for problems in education, drop-out rates, crime, and "the root cause" (whatever that is? He isn't "picking on pregnant women," he stated (badly) his thoughts on abortion. That is his belief. If you do not like it, do not vote for him but, just like you have often done, you are making huge accusations and building mountains out of a molehill. THAT is the distraction.

Paroquet 9 months ago

John,

There wouldn't be a distraction if the religious right checked their church's doctrine at the door. We tried to provide subtle hints to the churches leaders using their pulpits for politicking; tax exempt status can be revoked for that. Having a thing against double-standards myself, I think the politicos should lead by example and not bring their pulpit to the legislative table.

Ryan's got a 100% anti-choice voting record. Aikin mis-spoke then in the same breath showed either a pathological belief in the supernatural, or base ignorance. The boys I mention have made their own agendas distractions. So have many of their supporters, cohorts, and lackeys. We mere commentators don't even have to think, much less fabricate anything in the way of creating a distraction. All the work is done for us by the very people we're accused of visiting distraction upon.

John 9 months ago

Okay, so Ryan is PRO-LIFE (as opposed to anti-choice) and is not PRO-MURDER. That is his stand.

Paroquet 9 months ago

No. Ryan, caters to an extremist right-wing base fueled by righteous furor who is totally cool with execution, use of lethal force, preemptive strikes, collateral casualties, and sacrificing a thinking mother's life in favor of possibly non-viable offspring.

If he were true to his faith, he'd denounce Romney as a follower of a false prophet. Dontcha think? Bible says so. Not Romney's version, though.

asb 9 months ago

I don't see many politicians being PRO-MURDER John. What about Romoney? Is he PRO-MURDER because he would allow abortion in the event of rape? You know, Mr. Ryan can't win without him.

Paroquet 9 months ago

Actually, it's all right there in the RNC Platform statement, if you care to read it.

All politicians are pro murder...but only if they say so. Some grant an exception wherein it's none of their business Constitutionally, or is just plain common sense to stay the heck out of.

Ryan is PRO-MURDER using John's own logic; Ryan would have condemned his own Mother to death in order his life be preserved, even in the instance of rapine or incest. That's what it takes to get a 100% anti-choice rating.

Paroquet 9 months ago

CORRECTION:

Ryan makes an exception where the life of the Mother is in danger.

Littleinvestor 9 months ago

Write in Brunner on Nov. 6

tonto_goldberg 9 months ago

Current State Auditor Schweich would make a much better Senator.

Littleinvestor 9 months ago

You may be right. I'll give him some study.

asb 9 months ago

I'll give you a nickel for every write-in that has ever won a Senate seat. By all means, write in anybody you want.

Littleinvestor 9 months ago

Not trying is certain to bring on failure.

Charlie 9 months ago

He needs to step down. He is hindering the GOP. If he is allowed to stay in, he will do more damage to the GOP and the NOV elections. If he is thinking about The People and what is good for this Country, he should step down. Of all the names mentioned above, I like the idea of BL running.

Paroquet 9 months ago

It's not just Akin:

"Last March, in a discussion in the Kansas House about whether women purchase separate abortion-only policies, Republican state Rep. Pete DeGraaf suggested women should plan ahead for rape the way he keeps a spare tire. A few weeks later, Indiana state Rep. Eric Turner, a Republican, said some women might fake being raped in order to get free abortions.
Former presidential hopeful Rick Santorum suggested doctors who perform an abortion on a woman who becomes pregnant from an attack should be thrown in jail and this year suggested rape victims who become pregnant from an attack should be forced to keep the baby and "make the best out of a bad situation.
In December, Santorum, Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry all said they would work to outlaw all abortions, regardless of the circumstances. "

Source: L.Z. Granderson

And then there is Ryan's legislative history to add in to the mix...

I know what Akin -could have- meant "legitimate rape". However, the record clearly shows the party's bent; 1,000+ new anti-choice initiatives compared to tens (in some cases less) of attempts at job replacement or creation, or consumer protections.

The proof is in the pudding, and I ain't eating it.

eileen10 9 months ago

The outrage against these crazy "words I'm not allowed to post" is so over whelming I can't even think straight. Do they think women are slabs of meat with no feelings? I can't deal with this right now. Talk about stupid,stupid and unfit for any kind of office. FT

Paroquet 9 months ago

No, they think women are brood mares who must risk or sacrifice their lives for an unwanted pregnancy, non-viable foetus, or permanently damaged or defective embryo that would, carried to term, require 'round the clock care, even in the instance of rape or incest.

It is the will of the Almighty.

Paroquet 9 months ago

Of course. They know the One True God's own Will. You know, the one that is omniscient, omnipotent, and pre-ordains everything that has happened or will happen, ever? The one who must be letting abortion occur for a reason?

Get the feeling I don't have much stomach for having the supernatural be the guiding light of my elected officials? Nor the dollar, for that matter--which is Mammon, ancient Hebrew for "greed" and in some circles considered to be the Son of Lucifer.

TickledPink 9 months ago

I posted that same article on Facebook but good luck sharing anything Granderson wrote - 90% of the people on here won't even bother reading it.

The GOP needs to refind its true conservative middle and publicly put to rest the fringe element that's driving the fear and hatred seen in so many. And yes, I feel the same way about the Democrats. Get rid of the extremists - they don't belong in politics at all.

eileen10 9 months ago

I nominate Roseanne Barr

Paroquet 9 months ago

Okay then, we'll take some stuff straight from the script of the RNC's Platform for 2012:________

"This is a platform of enduring principle, not passing convenience the product of the most open and transparent process in American political history. We offer it to our fellow Americans in the assurance that our Republican ideals are those that unify our country:...Dedication to a rule of law that both protects and preserves liberty....[later...That is why our reform of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (warrantless wiretaps) was so vital]... Distrust of government’s interference in people’s lives. Dedication to a rule of law that both protects and preserves liberty...[later...Let it empower people, while limiting its reach into their lives.]...[later]We will not put government between patients and their health care providers...[later...No health care professional doctor, nurse, or pharmacist or organization should ever be required to perform, provide for, or refer for a health care service against their conscience for any reason. This is especially true of the religious organizations which deliver a major portion of America’s health care, a service rooted in the charity of faith communities.]...[later...]We renew our call for replacing “family planning” programs for teens with increased funding for abstinence education, which teaches abstinence until marriage as the responsible and expected standard of behavior.]...[later]However, no expansion of governmental powers should occur at the expense of our constitutional liberties.]...[later...Faithful to the first guarantee of the Declaration of Independence, we assert the inherent dignity and sanctity of all human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed...we endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children...just as we oppose euthanasia and assisted suicide, (remember the above with respect to their stance on government intrusion?)...we call for a constitutional amendment that fully protects marriage as a union of a man and a woman, so that judges cannot make other arrangements equivalent to it...[later]...Our Constitution guarantees the free exercise of religion and forbids any religious test for public office, and it likewise prohibits the establishment of a state-sponsored creed (they use Almighty and Creator quite a bit in their Platform delivery).... "

Source: RNC Platform speech.

eileen10 9 months ago

How about that. Seems that some people can,t read or choose to ignore what's in black and white.

Paroquet 9 months ago

Here's hope for you Eileen10:

I'm a truck-drivin', huntin' & fishin', 5th gen. Ozark hill-billy from a single Father home, raised Catholic, and who has an illegitimate child that he has to fight the courts at his expense to see when Mom goes acting the fool. And I vote (I), as in :Informed:

eileen10 9 months ago

HMMM If you live in a cabin in the woods,clean the fish and drive an old pickup...wanna get married? (smile)

eileen10 9 months ago

Paroquet Did I scare you off? Just having a little fun cuz things get pretty intense on these posts.

Paroquet 9 months ago

@eileen10, nope. I ain't the type to scare easy. Almost got meself killt too many times for that.

Needed lunch, now work beckons.

Oh, while not quite a cabin in the woods, I do keep chickens here in the city and maintain >3500sqft of vegetable garden. Even got tree stands up out back for the Missus and I come archery deer season, although I will take squirrel, rabbit, raccoon, and groundhog also via archery when in season as well. I was all over the city council when they were on the subject of allowing that.

eileen10 9 months ago

Wow.You sure have a lot of energy but then I have quite a few years on you. I'll be following your posts because your one heck of a teacher so thanks for making me smarter:)

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