MO: Akin could really blow this

[All Along The Watchtower]

So this will be the ... fourth? Senate race the Tea Party has cost the Republicans?  Thanks, guys...

It is very difficult to call him the Tea Party candidate and thus attribute his nomination to him. If anything he is a far-right, establishment, socially conservative Congressmen of 12 years. Brunner got the backing of most of the TP groups, while Steelman got Sarah Palin's endorsement. Brunner was a businessman and Steelman had previously challenged the establishment choice in the 2008 GOP Gubernatorial primary to see who would lose to Jay Nixon.

Also, he followed the Fischer, Thompson, "He who throws the least mud near the election wins" model. He was third in the polls for months and down in the teens until just two weeks prior to the election. This is one case where the TP would have saved us a seat.

Akin is a member of the Tea Party Caucus, FWIW.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Am I the only one who thinks this is a massive overreaction to what he said? I mean, it was stupid, but saying stupid things happens all the time in politics. The actual text of what he said wasn't that bad. I guess if you're using as a proxy for a pattern it's ok.

It wasn't just "stupid." Most of us on this forum have the privilege of not having to be wary of members of the opposite sex much of the time. We don't have to be especially careful in terms of where we park our cars, where we walk at night, or what we do at parties. Women live with this fear much more than men do, for good reason.

What Akin said was incredibly offensive, not just to women who have been raped, but to all women...hell, a lot of men too. People who have a sense of respect and empathy for anyone at all should be appalled, but I guess that's too much to ask of some people.

[All Along The Watchtower]

So Akin has apologized.

Of course, we still don't know if the apology was legitimate or forcible.