The National Republican Senatorial Committee quietly sent $760,000 to the Missouri Republican Party in early November, just as the state GOP was mounting a last-minute TV ad blitz to boost Rep. Todd Akin’s sagging Senate campaign, according to records released Thursday.
The NRSC funds appear to have helped pay for the pro-Akin TV ads as he was struggling to narrow Sen. Claire McCaskill’s lead at the polls. The disclosure is highly significant because the Senate GOP campaign committee promised to abandon Akin after failing to push the conservative congressman out of the race following his August declaration that “legitimate rape” rarely leads to pregnancies because female bodies often shut down…
As as the Missouri Senate race dragged on and Akin made up some ground in the contest, the NRSC was in a quandary: Does it stick to its word and hope Akin could rebound on his own? Or should it flip-flop and send an infusion of cash into the race in a last-ditch bid to save his campaign?
Now it appears to have been the latter, certain to give fodder to Democrats eager to hit Senate Republicans on hypocrisy charges.
The swift and virtually air-tight condemnation of Todd Akin this fall by his fellow Republicans after his infamous “legitimate rape” comments was taken by many as legitimate, but the larger purpose was to shield Republicans all over the country–not least presidential candidate Mitt Romney–from the hard secondary questions about their own support for policies on abortion that agreed with Akin’s statements. Legislation that Akin had co-sponsored with many congressional Republicans, including representatives from Colorado and vice-presidential nominee Paul Ryan, to restrict the definition of rape for federal assistance purposes to “forcible” rape comes uncomfortably close to the twisted logic Akin exposed.
Well folks, you know now. Akin horrified you, but he didn’t really horrify his fellow Republicans. The “abandonment” of Todd Akin was a ruse meant to protect a party whose official platform is in agreement with Akin’s views. Period. And the moment they felt there was a strategic interest in doing so, the same National Republican Senatorial Committee that vowed never to condone what Akin said did exactly that. Because you would only find out after the election.
To say this is an important lesson for voters to remember is a profound understatement.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
BY: JohnInDenver
IN: Thursday Open Thread
BY: spaceman2021
IN: Marxists and Pedophiles: Republicans React to Legislative Session
BY: harrydoby
IN: Thursday Open Thread
BY: Sparky
IN: Marxists and Pedophiles: Republicans React to Legislative Session
BY: JohnInDenver
IN: Thursday Open Thread
BY: Chickenheed
IN: Thursday Open Thread
BY: Pam Bennett
IN: Thursday Open Thread
BY: MichaelBowman
IN: Thursday Open Thread
BY: MichaelBowman
IN: Thursday Open Thread
BY: The realist
IN: Wednesday Open Thread
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to stay in the loop with regular updates!
The second most characteristic quality of today’s GOP, the first being naked let-them-eat-cake selfish greed, is naked hypocrisy. You could knock me over with a feather. Shocked, I tell you!