Akin: I Just Used One Word Incorrectly

Some strategists believe that Rep. Todd Akin may have not only saved the most unpopular Democrat in the U.S. Senate but could well have kept the Senate in Democratic hands. It is too early to tell, but Akin yesterday let the deadline pass for withdrawal without a court order and refused to yield to demands from leading Republicans that he drop out. He appears hoping that the Republicans in the state would prefer to send a man viewed internationally as a dysfunctional moron rather than accept six more years with McCaskill. What is even more disturbing, however, is Akin’s view of his own conduct. In refusing to leave the race, Akin said that he simply mad a bad choice in using “one word in one sentence on one day.”

As now even herders in yurts in Mongolia can tell you, Akin become a global laughing stock when he went on the air and explained “First of all, from what I understand from doctors, that’s really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. . . But let’s assume that maybe that didn’t work or something. You know I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child.”

That ridiculous statement appears to come down to just one stray word, according to Akin: “I misspoke one word in one sentence on one day, and all of a sudden, overnight, everybody decides, ‘Well, Akin can’t possibly win.'” It is not clear what single word Akin is referencing but I assume it is “legitimate.” He is of course ignoring his breathtaking claim that doctors (still unnamed) have told him that women possess a type of kill switch over pregnancies that they can use to not get pregnant after a rape. That any adult would utter such nonsense raises more questions of Akin’s intellect than his attitude toward women. Moreover, after bringing the unity of the GOP against him (including the national party withdrawing millions from the race against McCaskill), Akin is minimizing his own bizarre conduct and how outrageous his statement was for women, rape victims, doctors, humans, and possibly every mammal on the planet.

Moreover, it is not simply a view that “Akin can’t possibly win.” McCaskill is so unpopular that he could win but that would be even more embarrassing for both the GOP and the country.

Source: USA Today