SUBSCRIBE NOW WELCOME BACK. Do you want to continue reading where you left off? New Republic subscribers can pick up where they left off no matter which device they were previously using. SUBSCRIBE NOW

Go Home How Todd Akin is Hurting Rommey’s Electoral Chances

ELECTIONATE AUGUST 20, 2012

How Todd Akin is Hurting Rommey’s Electoral Chances

BY NATE COHN

It’s hard to say how many news cycles will involve the jaw-dropping statement by Republican Senate candidate Todd Akin that women’s bodies can block pregnancy in instances of “legitimate” rape. If my twitter feed is an indicator, it might be more than one. What can be said with certainty, though, is that every day spent on this issue is a very bad one for Romney.

The Obama campaign was attempting to focus on women's health and abortion issues, even before the Akin controversy. Earlier this month, Obama campaign aired more advertisements about Romney’s views on Planned Parenthood than any other spot, and the Obama campaign launched an ad attempting to tie Romney to Ryan’s opposition to abortion in instances of rape or incest on Friday. Just yesterday, a friend emailed me an unsolicited picture of an Obama advertisement in a metro station in northern Virginia declaring that Romney was “too extreme” for Virginia because he opposes Roe v. Wade.  

It’s not hard to see why the Obama campaign wants this debate. Moderate to liberal social views prevail in many affluent and well-educated metropolitan areas like Denver and northern Virginia, where a strong performance among moderate women can make the difference for Obama, as they did for Bennett two years ago. But more generally, meaningful gains among any group could be sufficient to put Obama over the top, given his proximity to 49 percent of the vote. Undecided voters are disproportionately women, and there’s no question that an overwhelming majority of voters, let alone women, support permitting abortion in instances of rape or incest. And recent polls were beginning to show signs that Obama was making additional inroads among white working class women who, presumably, were increasingly skeptical of Romney after attacks on Bain Capital and his tax returns.

So the Obama campaign was spending millions attempting to elevate abortion and women’s health issues in the minds of socially moderate voters even before yesterday’s controversy, which is all but assured to make Romney’s problem even worse. For voters who have already seen Obama’s advertisements, Akin’s comments could be a crystallizing moment that clarifies GOP’s position on social issues. Democrats will surely assert that the Akin statement reflects a broader GOP trend on women’s health issues and while Romney tried to distance himself by disagreeing with Akin’s remarks, the Obama campaign is unlikely to allow this type of media frenzy to pass without taking an opportunity to discuss Planned Parenthood or contraceptives. Just for good measure, Akin raises the exact question of Ryan’s opposition to abortion in cases of rape or incest, which the Obama campaign was already emphasizing. And Ryan’s bill to “redefine rape” is sure to receive additional attention, especially since it plausibly qualifies Romney’s support for abortion in cases of rape or incest. Even if Romney can distance himself, any damage to the Republican brand would still have adverse consequences for the top of the ticket.

So one week before the convention, Romney has been saddled with another cultural controversy that risks highlighting issues that the Obama camp thinks could yield gains among socially moderate voters critical to his chances in Colorado and Virginia. The Obama campaign was already spending millions trying to elevate this question in swing states, and the last thing Boston needs is incendiary remarks adding fuel to the fire.

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS

Show all 23 comments

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

23 comments

If women can mentally freeze the sperm in their tracks and send them packing, how does this impact on the ACA contraception issue? Or is contraception only for those lazy women who can't do a Vulcan mind meld with said sperm?

- Nusholtz

August 20, 2012 at 5:09pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

Akins' only sin in Republicans' eyes is saying aloud what they talk about behind closed doors. The lastest dustup continues to show the old men of the GOP trying to get their way regardless of federal law. This legitimate or forcible rape crap, run by the 99.9% of rapers who are men, is trying to tighten rules so no one gets an abortion, regardless of federal law. Between legislating for statutory rape of unwanted vaginal ultrasound, to introducing legislation to prevent all those women who falsely claim rape to get an abortion is as weird and disturbing as their fraudulent voter ID laws. Todays Republicans are controlling, suspicious, paranoid, clownish creatures, who make rules for everyone but themselves, like skinny dipping in the Sea of Galilea. "Kiss my ass. Show some respect. This is a holy site", as Romney's thugs proclaimed in Poland. Paul Ryan's mother ought to be telling Paul to keep his hands off girls'private parts, instead advocating for Medicare cuts for the generation who paid for hers.

- smabry03

August 21, 2012 at 7:56am

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

sad state of play when the only issue the Dems have is abortion, used blatantly as a political ploy to drive turnout. yes, it worked in New York in 2010, when the #1 issue should have been how New York Medicaid is bankrupting the state. ACA uses New York's expansive Medicaid as the national model. Why is this important? ask the two men who were my NY State Senators how they like their prison cells, decorated with the Medicaid money they stole.

- K2K

August 21, 2012 at 9:25am

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

@K2K: Abortion isn't the "only" issue the Dems have. The Repugs want to block access to birth control, too. Seriously, Congressional Republicans voted against equal pay for equal work (the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act). Women have benefited enormously from Obama's landmark health reform legislation. They will suffer more than any other group from Ryan/Romney's draconian budget cuts to social programs, and very few women will benefit from further tax cuts for the rich. Women are more than half the population of the US. Denigrating and dismissing issues of critical importance to them isn't smart.

- heppner52

August 21, 2012 at 9:48am

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

K2K Akin's statements are an admission that he thinks the Rape and Incest issue is important. He didn't have a good reason to not include the exception in Republican policy, so he made one up.

- Nusholtz

August 21, 2012 at 9:58am

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

The potential to emphasis the "yuck" factor present in Repug's (thanks, heppner52, I like that, Repug = Repugnant Party) obsession with the reproductive processes & body parts of the nation's ladies is a gift. This creepy, weird obsession of theirs deserves to be highlighted & show-cased at every opportunity.

- Haole45

August 21, 2012 at 10:08am

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

Yeah, I'd go on the record and say the problem with Akin is that the RNC starts in a week. They don't want a floor fight on the platform and they don't want this dirty laundry aired in front of the American public. Especially if that moves someone to pull a Pat Buchanan and '92 the party.

- chaitless

August 21, 2012 at 10:38am

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

Or to put it another way, Akin's comments probably aren't hurting Romney that much, since there are so many yahoos who agree with him but are afraid to say so.

- mlottman

August 21, 2012 at 2:11pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

Akin's comments really wouldn't matter much in a vacuum, but they draw attention to the fact that he co-sponsored the "forcible rape" bill with Paul Ryan as well as the fact that the GOP platform contains no exception for abortions in cases of rape (or incest, or to save the life of the mother). He reflects the the views of many Republicans as well as the official views of the GOP. This will get Obama more votes not only from white working class women, but it will also motivate more college aged women to get actively involved in the campaign.

- Attrill

August 21, 2012 at 2:18pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

A few questions for the esteemed "Dr." Akin: (Akin has got to be esteemed because I hadn't read anything on this subject before he raised it.) 1) Does the women make a conscious decision to cause her body to abort? 2) And does the women in her heightened emotional state know the egg was fertilized during or soon after the "legitimate" rape took place? Or does she self abort after obtaining a positive result on a over-the-counter test? 3) Are "legitimate" rape abortions (after all, the women may have enjoyed the experience) caused by a natural body process an example of god's whimsy? And should it be considered criminal (especially if women have some control over the process?) because a fetus is a baby and a baby is a baby? 4) Should women be compelled to take drugs or obtain surgery to inhibit or suppress the "legitimate" rape miscarriages (or whatever you call them at 1-day, 3-4 weeks, etc) ? Because heh, they should suck it up and bear their crosses like everyone else has to. Should insurers be forced to cover PTSD for "legitimate" rape cases? 5) Do you think women who experienced of "legitimate" rape can be better helped by bible-reading classes and courses in wearing longer hemlines and squeezing aspirin between their knee contests? 6) Why do you think animals don't possess the "legitimate" rape fertilized egg expulsion ability? And isn't that fact a good thing? For example inseminating brood mares, sows and cows would be extremely difficult. 7) Does vaginal fluid contain a chemical marker indicating a women enjoyed the rape, thus making the act not "legitimate?" And if so, are you concerned that "would-be" rapists would subpoena rape kits seeking evidence of such a marker? 8) DO you envision charges of rape decreasing when one combines the chemical marker evidence with that fact that some states require women to pay for or obtain their own rape kits. Because let's face it, if the so-called voictime is payiing for the tests, that victim has a vested interest in the resulr.

- tec619

August 21, 2012 at 2:37pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

Romney a real libertarian. Undocumented immigrants can self-deport and women can self-abort.

- tec619

August 21, 2012 at 2:39pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

K2K, The real problem with Medicaid and Medicare is the health care industry's gouging of the American taxpayer. Neither the Dems nor the GOP have done anything about this. The prices that the government pays health care for their services are criminal (plus, there are the unnecessary operations, tests, and medications). The Republicans are the ones who keep ranting about cutting costs. But they don't have the courage to start at the source. Too many of their corporate buds are making too much money off the taxpayers. The same goes for the military. The GOP is whining about the cuts to the military, but all they have to do is go to the contractors and order them to stop charging criminal prices for their products. There was a case in the Eighties where a government aircraft contractor was charging the U.S. taxpayers $100,000 for each bolt that they installed on an airplane. The Republicans are terrified to even attempt to do anything about this criminal problem, because they are afraid to alienate their corporate buds. Many Democrats are, too. But it's the Republicans who are obsessed with cutting costs. Just do it, GOP! Fat chance.

- magboy47.

August 21, 2012 at 3:07pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

I would suggest that the Dems never let up on the GOP's 19th Century view of women and their non-rights. Hammer, hammer, hammer. Pound the issue into the ground until enough women wake up and organize on a national scale. I'd like to see millions of women in the streets marching, shouting down male Republican Neanderthals--before the election. They would actually be helping the GOP in the long run. There are even Republican women who want these clowns to shut up. I hope they send a message at the polls that one of these days the reactionary men in the GOP will be sent back to the time of Robber Barons and slavery where they belong. We don't need 'em in the 21st Century.

- magboy47.

August 21, 2012 at 3:20pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

Abortion is hardly the only is sue Democrats "have to play," k2k. all thef issues Republicans kne ep bringing up are based on right wing ideologically driven illusions. Try talking about something real for a change.

- arnon1

August 21, 2012 at 4:08pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

BesIdes Akins comments are about RAPE as much as they are about abortion.

- arnon1

August 21, 2012 at 4:09pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

I am constantly amazed at how these supposed champions of individual freedom against the big, bad government are so anxious to have the government micromanage what goes on in individual women's bodies. Smabry03 is right; the only thing Akins did was say what his colleagues all believe (or perhaps in some cases pretend to believe in order to get elected).

- VAliberal

August 21, 2012 at 5:04pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

"If Biden's "chains" idiocy isn't the deciding factor for Obama campaign, why would Akin's "legitimate rape" idiocy be the deciding factor for the Romney campaign?" Because Biden is getting a bit senile, malahat. I know the feeling. On the other hand, Akin twisted things to fit his loony ideology. I was worried about Biden as a running mate in his first term as VP--even more so now. This article might be moot. Akin has already made a political ad apologizing for his dufus words, and the GOP establishment is running backwards from him so fast that it's like he's anti-matter. He could have, indeed, cost Romney the election. I'm sure that even a lot of Republican women were appalled by the bizarre extremity of his words. He mentioned his 2 daughters in his apology. I'm betting they spoke to daddy before he made that ad.

- magboy47.

August 21, 2012 at 6:19pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

"If Biden's "chains" idiocy isn't the deciding factor for Obama campaign, why would Akin's "legitimate rape" idiocy be the deciding factor for the Romney campaign?" How are the two comments comparable?

- arnon1

August 21, 2012 at 6:40pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

There is nothing "senile" in what Biden said. If Akins, Ryan and the Republican tea party had their way there would be no medicaid for poor Black women, no safe place where a Black woman who had been raped where she could be treated and get an abortion should she need it. If they had their way social security would be privatized which is another way of saying eliminated. If they had their way there would no minimum wage and workers would have to accept whatever was offered them. I marvel at supposedly intelligent people comparing medieval thinking (Akins) with the thinking of those who want to improve the lives of the poor.

- arnon1

August 21, 2012 at 6:52pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

"I doubt will end up having much impact on the final vote." That might very well be, though Republicans are trying to get Akins out of the Senate race in Missouri and put someone who knows how to keep his mouth shut.

- arnon1

August 21, 2012 at 8:35pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

Yeap, virtual keyboards can be a problem, even for people with less stubby fingers.

- arnon1

August 21, 2012 at 8:37pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

The head post is ridiculous, hyperventilated yet lint picking, navel gazing analysis. Aikin is out. Let the news cycle do a few laps and the story will be as old, as Ezra Pound said, as days old newspaper used to wrap fish. All the aggrandizing of Akin's idiocy into grains of sand in which to see the the whole R world will drift away as so much dust in the wind as will Cohn's piece. Romney-Ryan who played a proximate role in getting put Akin out won't be touched by this and it's already apparent that Ryan is modifying his views where he has to to comport with more or less mainstream sentiment. Malahat, you have beautiful fingers, and I'll go to the mat on that one.

- basman

August 21, 2012 at 9:37pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

My mistake in one respect: he apparently hasn't dropped out. I thought I read he had. Sorry for any confusion.

- basman

August 21, 2012 at 9:54pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

SHARE HIGHLIGHT

0 CHARACTERS SELECTED

TWEET THIS

POST TO TUMBLR

SHARE ON FACEBOOK

Close