The Republican Party’s Todd Akin “Branding” Problem
The problem facing the GOP now is far bigger than whether Rep. Todd Akin can be forced to pull out of the Missouri Senate race over his comments about “legitimate” rape. And it was perfectly summarized in this segment on “Morning Joe” below:
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If there is a growing dent in the republican brand (as reflected by polls) then maybe there’s hope for the electorate yet. (only maybe) I agree we need two sane and robust parties (at least two) and currently we only seem to have one with any consistent claim to sanity.
This is hardly a “branding problem” it is in fact a real problem with the Republican brand. Republicans stand for everything that Akin’s slip represents, and would pass into law if they gain full control over our government. He just spilled the beans prematurely and is getting scolded publicly by the party bosses.
Well, his remarks certainly were ignorant. I’m glad he is likely to withdraw. I have to day that I’m also put off by some Democrat pundits who seem more interested in “guilt by association” political points than one relative minor race”.
This is what happens when you let the lunatics take over the asylum.
davidpsummers — The problem is that Akin’s views aren’t that uncommon. They are quite common among the very pro-life, and they aren’t new. For example, our new VP nom is just as rabidly anti-woman as Akin. I don’t know if he believes specifically that rape protects against pregnancy, or if he’s made up some other reason why women who are raped should be forced to carry to term, but his views are just as extreme. I hope you don’t think that the POTUS-VP race is “minor”.
Common or not, they aren’t comments made by, or supported by, Romney or Ryan. If you think you can make a case about Ryan’s views based on what he has said, then more power to you, but to use someone else’s comments is just politics.
Have followed this since Sunday…this is one of the most disturbing political incidents i have ever closely followed….
What Todd Akin spoke is abhorrent, the degree of insensitivity and inexpressible ignorance is beyond extreme but what has transfixed has been the political feeding frenzy….
Discovery Channel Shark Week was last week….Tags for Shark Week;
Chompdown—-Jaws of steel— Blood in the Water—-Restless fury—-The Biggest Bites—
Truly this election and this incident is primal politics…
Scared to be an American
“Common or not, they aren’t comments made by, or supported by, Romney or Ryan.”
The policies are, however, supported by Romney and Ryan, as are the misperceptions. Ryan is a co-author with Akin of the bill to redefine rape as “forcible rape”, thereby excluding any rape other than the boogyman jumping out from the bushes, as well as a personhood bill that would take away a woman’s right to get an abortion even in the case of rape, and may even ban certain forms of contraception. Ryan says “forcible rape”, Ron Paul talks of “honest rape” (huh?), and now we have Akin with his “legitimate rape”. Please excuse me if there seems to be a theme here, and beyond just one man. I and others are allowed to notice these things, these similarities in points of view, in rape apologia, and in concrete policy positions. The “guilt by association”, as you like to call it, is because the positions they are taking are associated, and closely so.
Just because two statements support the same policy, doesn’t mean they represent the same view. If black activist supports a policy of Obama does, but he wants to “punish Whitey” you can’t assume the Obama wants to punish Whitey.
And I don’t see why the “legitimate rape” comment is considered the most odious part of the comment. It is the premise that you can’t get pregnant from rape (or even some rapes) that is bad (as it minimizes the rape if the women gets pregnant). The former doesn’t actually seem that different than Whoopi Goldberg’s “rape rape” remark. But I guess that latter doesn’t fit a sound bite and is harder to associate with political objectives.
No, it’s not that different from Whoopi Goldberg’s “rape rape” comment. That comment is also terrible and wrong, and made me lose all the respect I had had for Whoopi. Furthermore, trying to parse what the worst thing about Akin’s comment is like trying to choose the least awful animal to eat you for dinner. The term “legitimate rape” is awful. The lie that women can’t get pregnant when they are raped is like saying that only witches float, so if you’re still alive, you must be a witch. The calling of women’s ability to reproduce “that whole thing” is quite insulting. The apology in which he trolls about women lying about rape is awful. Declaring those of us who feel strongly about this to be “overreacting” is classic rape apologia. Akin is a giant sh*t sandwich of rape apologia, so figuring out which specific set of words is the worst is an excersize in futility.
“Just because two statements support the same policy, doesn’t mean they represent the same view.”
This is true, but there are very few ways to justify forcing a woman who is raped to carry the pregnancy to term, and all of them are pretty horrific.