Todd Akin missed his 5 p.m. dropout deadline yesterday, but technically he still has a few weeks to step aside and make room for a Republican replacement (as long as he gets court approval). ABC News reports that Akin isn’t ruling out an exit:
Here’s what Missouri Congressman Todd Akin said when I asked if he was in the race to stay – even if it looked like he would lose and possibly cost Republicans control of the Senate.
“Well George, I’m never going to say everything that could possibly happen. I don’t know the future, but I do know this. I knew that the party voters took a look at our hearts, understood who we were, had a chance to meet us in many, many different ways and made a decision,” Akin told me. “And it makes me uncomfortable to think that the party bosses are going to dictate who runs as opposed to the election process.”
Apparently Akin may not know how bad the damage actually is. According to Politico, he’s been holed up with his strategy advisor, who’s pushing him to stay in the race. But CBS reports that Akin’s decision isn’t final, and it depends on whether Republicans come around to support him:
But, says Andrews, “Two sources tell CBS News [Akin’s] real strategy here is to hang tough — for now — and see if that wins enough money and support to stay in the race. In others words — his final decision to stay in — may not be final.”
In a potential sign of his strategy, Akin appealed Tuesday to Christian evangelicals, anti-abortion activists and anti-establishment Republicans. He said he remains the best messenger to highlight respect for life and liberty that he contends are crumbling under the big-government policies of President Obama.
Akin seems to hope that he can blame his flub on the liberal media and convince conservative grassroots to rally around him. But when Sarah Palin, Mark Levin and Rush Limbaugh have all turned against you, that’s not really a viable strategy.
For now, there’s not much conservatives can do other than wait it out. Bill Kristol writes that Republicans and conservatives have already made their points publicly, and now it’s time for friends and supporters of Akin make the case to him behind the scenes.
I think his strategy advisor is his wife. n
The Missouri Supreme Court has a majority of Democrats. If their permission is required now this moron has cooked the GOP chances.
Yeah they will have no reason to let him drop out. This is why it would be better if judges were poltical and followed the constitution more.
I see Akins uses the royal 'We'. n nWhat a dingbat. n nI think Akins peeled a good 5% of the Jewish vote away from Romney. n nHe can be viewed as a scary throwback to the social WASP conservatives the Jews distrust in the extreme.
yes–and unfortunately, the GOP party plank on abortion that, incredibly, makes no exception for incest or rape, is also going to hurt, with Jews and others. n nif the Republicans keep proving to people that they ARE the "scary throwbacks" the MSM portrays them as, that's big trouble. I wish they'd cut it out.
Not just the Jewish vote.The bitter joke and open secret is that Democrats ,who are using this sad sack to smite the GOP hip and thigh, spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in the primaries running "attack-ads" that warned he was just too-darned conservative for Missouri, helpfully listing all his too-conservative positions over folksy music to appeal to … conservative Repubs who were more susceptible to psych-out manipulation than skepticism. Then the Dems ginned up a phony poll that showed he was still in the race while McCaskill's outrage extended to begging him to stay in the race so she could use him and Missouri GOP voters as a handy pinata.
What if Akin DOES drop out, someone replaces him, and the Republicans STILL lose that seat? Who will you blame then? I think the GOP throwing him under the bus just compounds the error. I think Akin is an honorable man who really believes abortion is always wrong. How many politicans have deep-seating convictions about ANYTHING?