Republican Missouri Sen. Todd Akin’s bizarre response to a question commonly asked of pro-life politicians — whether abortion should be allowed in the case of rape — has been universally condemned. Prominent members of the GOP have demanded that he step down from his race for Senate.
Akin told a Fox news affiliate in St. Louis: “It seems to be, first of all, from what I understand from doctors, it’s really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut the whole thing down.”
Akin’s gaffe blew up into a nuclear mushroom cloud of political reprisals — from members of his own party (which just adopted a pro-life party platform that doesn’t include an abortion exclusion for rape pregnancies) — within less than 24 hours. The fear at hand: a perception that the GOP has engaged in a war on women and risks losing more than 50 percent of the vote. Big hitters — including Republican candidate for President Mitt Romney — demanded that Akin take his name off the ballot. American Crossroads, the 501(c)4 formed by former Bush campaign operative Karl Rove has withdrawn advertising support for Akin.
Read the New York Times blow-by-blow account.
National issues like this occasionally hit home, especially during campaign season.
Tuesday afternoon, Cassandra Gekas, the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, sent out an email blast demanding that Lt. Gov. Phil Scott denounce Akin.
“There is some question about Mr. Scott’s stance on reproductive rights,” Gekas said in a statement. “I think clarity about whether or not the Lt. Governor is willing to denounce the statements from Congressman Akin would be valuable for Vermonters who are wondering how to vote this coming November.”
Trouble is, Scott had already done just that. The Republican incumbent issued a statement on Tuesday at about 11:30 a.m. on Facebook and Twitter condemning Akin.
Scott wrote: “Much as I hate to draw even more attention to it, I do feel compelled to say, in response to Todd Akin’s ignorant remark: how can you even put “legitimate” and “rape” in the same sentence?”
By Tuesday night, about 77 people had “liked” his Facebook posting.
In an interview, Scott said: “It was a deplorable remark. I don’t understand it. It’s hard to fathom something as ignorant as that.”
The lieutenant governor said when he condemned Akin’s comments earlier in the day, “It was certainly not in reaction to my opponent — that’s the way I feel.”
Though Gekas is friends with Scott on Facebook, she apparently missed his late-morning post. Scott wasn’t aware of Gekas’ political attack until he was contacted by VTDigger.
“I guess it’s politics 101,” Scott said of the email blast. “It’s just the way some people in both parties do it and like to conduct campaigns. It’s not something I’ve followed in my years of following campaigns, but I understand that’s the way some people like to do business.”
For the second time in a week (the first was her campaign launch), Gekas used a national issue as an opportunity to tie Scott to the rabid, out-of-state Republican right. On Friday, members of her campaign railed against the state GOP party’s support of visits from ultra conservative figures, namely Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., Florida Rep. Allen West and Maine Gov. Paul LePage.
Most of Gekas’ press release this time focused on Akin.
“Representative Akin’s comments are part of a rising tide of conservative politicians around the country waging a war on women,” Gekas said. “Akin shows how completely out of touch he is with issues that impact women. His ignorance about the frequency, nature, and impact of sexual assault in this country is stunning. Using junk science to legitimize his claims not only re-victimizes rape survivors but establishes a radical ideology that has no place in 21st century politics or policy. Rape is rape, and more importantly, when it comes to their bodies and reproductive health, women should be in the driver’s seat, period.”
Last week Gekas took Scott to task for an endorsement from Right to Life. Scott said he believes he was endorsed because of his ambivalence about Vermont adopting an Oregon style “death with dignity” law that would enable terminally ill patients to end their own lives with prescription drugs.
In an email, Jill Krowinski, a Burlington representative and Gekas supporter, said Scott had supported parental notification for abortions as a state senator. On Wednesday morning, Scott said he has “supported the concept of parental notification.”
“I have felt, as the father of two girls, in the event of a pregnancy in their early years I would want the opportunity to help them through what I am sure would be a difficult time in their life,” Scott said.
