I have come to the conclusion that our government should not limit the right to marry based on who you love…Good people disagree with me. On the other hand, my children have a hard time understanding why this is even controversial. I think history will agree with my children.Sen. Claire McCaskill, becoming the 42nd senator to support marriage equality. Extra points for making the announcement on her Tumblr
We are doing a lot of reaching out to some of the tea party folks across the state. What we’re finding — at least in this stage of the race — we’re finding that our interests align. It’s unusual.Keith Rouda, a field organizer with the liberal PACS MoveOn.org and Progress Kentucky, on the shared interests of Democratic donors and tea partiers in Kentucky. Both groups want Mitch McConnell out of the Senate, albiet for different reasons, and so they’ve struck up somewhat of an alliance. Apparently, Democratic donors have told state tea party groups that they’ll help bankroll the primary campaign of a credible right-wing challenger to McConnell, and one state Democratic group has already circulated petitions urging potential candidates to challenge McConnell in the primary. This is the exact same tactic Democrats used in Missouri last year, and it worked out pretty well for Claire McCaskill. source
If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.The infamous remarks, by GOP Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin, which may indeed have been the irreparable deathblow to his candidacy. Despite calls from prominent Republicans for his withdrawal, Akin stuck it out, and tonight, has been defeated by Missouri incumbent Senator Claire McCaskill, as projected by NBC News.
Akin, who has until Oct. 15 to report his quarterly fundraising figures, was in Washington on Wednesday for a series of fundraisers. But his campaign was again beset by remarks he made about abortion — this time, as video of a 2008 speech Akin delivered on the House floor was recirculated online.
In that address, Akin equated abortion providers to terrorists and suggested that it was “common practice” for them to be “giving abortions to women who are not actually pregnant.” On Wednesday, Akin’s critics sought to link the remarks to his “legitimate rape” comment, which he made while explaining his opposition to abortion.
Someone get this man to a human anatomy class, stat.
With Todd Akin’s final withdrawal deadline past, Claire McCaskill has finally pulled out a nice can of you-know-what on the controversial Missouri Senate candidate. Whaddya think?
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Perhaps he doesn’t plan to drop out? The Missouri Senate candidate, who was rumored to be dropping out as of yesterday afternoon, appears to be at least trying to salvage his campaign right now, releasing this ad. Akin didn’t have the best day on Monday, facing sharp rebukes from his own party and skipping out on “Piers Morgan Tonight” at the very last second. Akin drew stern criticism over the weekend after he claimed that women couldn’t get pregnant from “legitimate rape” — a claim that suddenly gives Claire McCaskill a chance to win re-election.
“As a member of Congress, I believe that working to protect the most vulnerable in our society is one of my most important responsibilities, and that includes protecting both the unborn and victims of sexual assault. In reviewing my off-the-cuff remarks, it’s clear that I misspoke in this interview and it does not reflect the deep empathy I hold for the thousands of women who are raped and abused every year. Those who perpetrate these crimes are the lowest of the low in our society and their victims will have no stronger advocate in the Senate to help ensure they have the justice they deserve.
“I recognize that abortion, and particularly in the case of rape, is a very emotionally charged issue. But I believe deeply in the protection of all life and I do not believe that harming another innocent victim is the right course of action. I also recognize that there are those who, like my opponent, support abortion and I understand I may not have their support in this election.
“But I also believe that this election is about a wide-range of very important issues, starting with the economy and the type of country we will be leaving our children and grandchildren. We’ve had 42 straight months of unacceptably high unemployment, trillion dollar deficits, and Democratic leaders in Washington who are focused on growing government, instead of jobs. That is my primary focus in this campaign and while there are those who want to distract from that, knowing they cannot defend the Democrats’ failed economic record of the last four years, that will continue to be my focus in the months ahead.”
The comments have clearly riled people up today, understandably.
“As a woman & former prosecutor who handled 100s of rape cases,I’m stunned by Rep Akin’s comments about victims this AM http://bit.ly/NahiHz
- Senator Claire McCaskill responding to Senate challenger Rep. Todd Akin’s stupid comments on rape and abortion.
Cause and effect: Thanks to his comments, Akin just gave his opponent some ammo and momentum in the race — a race that was going to be difficult for McCaskill because her state’s leaning right these days and she barely won in 2006 as it is. The question — with a weak opponent who just drew a firestorm of controversy, can McCaskill claw her way to another term?
EDIT: For sake of numbers, McCaskill was down five points on Akin before he made his comments, based on a RealClearPolitics average of polls.
Was Obama an inexperienced politician when he said he’d repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t tell”? Well, he ran a better campaign than this dude back in 2008. (Thought we’d forget that, didn’t you?) Anyway, John McCain was on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday trying to explain how the current gays in the military policy makes sense, in a way that’s giving Candy Crowley some real meat to chew upon. Meanwhile, large chunks of Americans think the policy should be repealed. And that includes this guy’s wife.
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