I asked the rhetorical question several weeks ago, "Should conservatives donate money to Todd Akin when the national GOP funding sources were starving his campaign of funds?" My answer was, essentially, Akin needs to prove he can solve his problems himself:
The drop-dead date for him to withdraw from the race is 9/25. I don't think anyone should donate money to him until after that date. If he really is a great/smart guy who slipped up one time (not the case, as he has a list of gaffes as long as my arm, but let's assume that he is great/smart), then he should be able to recover from his "shut the whole thing down" comment without the help of anyone outside of MO. My feeling is he made this mess and he needs to clean it up.Well, a funny thing happened. Akin is running strong, successfully attacking Claire McCaskell as an Obama-ite who campaigned to the right and then voted to the left in her term in the Senate. Crazy as it might sound, Akin might pull this thing out:
None of this changes the basic fact that Akin is a dangerous gaffe machine. The only reason he's pacing McCaskill is the strong anti-Obama wave in MO, a once-purple state that has gone decidedly red. McCaskill is good at playing a tough-talking moderate, but she voted as a liberal and was Barack Obama's first Senate ally to support him as president. That's not going to work in Missouri under optimal (for a liberal) conditions.
(btw, up until very recently, you heard all about how Missouri was a "bellwether" state whose electoral votes and voters were eagerly sought out in presidential contests. The stat you always heard was that Missourians had voted for the winners in virtually every presidential election since The Compromise. This year, Obama is running 11% behind. He's not contesting the state at all. And, magically we're not hearing about how that might a bellwether.of anything)
Akin is still running a few points behind due to his own grievous self-inflicted wounds. But, as he's close, and no Missouri Republican has come forward to run a write-in campaign, the time has come to send Akin the funds to replace the funds the national organizations have withdrawn. A brain-dead Todd Akin is still superior to a Claire McCaskill operating at the height of her powers. Ideally, he will win and, after a few years of service, receive some sort of Executive Branch appointment he can't refuse, at which point a Missourian who can better articulate conservative principals can be appointed to his seat.
I hope he wins. One gaffe does not necessarily represent who he is and what he believes. Further, it is much more important how he votes, and he has consistently voted for conservative principles as a congressman.
ReplyDelete