How much does the Republican establishment hate Todd Akin?

The three most prominent faces of resistance to Rep. Todd Akin in his Senate race with Claire McCaskill (D-MO) are Karl Rove, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, and Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. We already know that Rove's feelings of disgust for Akin reach the level of joking about the congressman's murder to a bunch of wealthy donors. Since Priebus and Cornyn appear to be following Rove's lead when it comes to withholding financial support for Akin, is it worth asking how much influence the former Bush senior adviser has over them?

When Akin made a bizarre comment during an interview in August about 'legitimate rape', the establishment suddenly had an excuse to withdraw its support while also calling for Akin to step down.

Earlier this year, Cliff Kincaid produced a source who charged that one of the reasons Rove so detests Akin is that the latter simply would not vote the establishment line during the Bush administration, to include "No Child left Behind". Which is the bigger mistake, Akin's comment this past August or that woeful piece of legislation? Akin's comment or Rove's joke about murdering him for staying in the race despite pressure to drop out?

Rove, et. al. also had a plausible excuse for denying financial support because Akin fell so far back in the polls, it would have been money wasted.

There's a problem. Akin has been scratching back into the race and still is getting no support from the establishment.

Now, the Akin campaign is outright claiming that Rove, et. al. would rather have McCaskill win than see Todd Akin take her seat.

Via Daily Caller:

Republican Rep. Todd Akin’s campaign is accusing influential GOP-affiliated organizations that refuse to spend money to help the Republican senate candidate of genuinely wanting Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill to win the hotly contested senate contest in Missouri.

Rick Tyler, a senior adviser to Akin, told The Daily Caller this week that Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS and Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn’s National Republican Senatorial Committee are trying to undermine Akin.

“I believed at one time they did want Akin to win, even though they didn’t want to admit it,” Tyler told TheDC. “I’m convinced now they don’t want Akin to win.”

In August, Akin told a news station that “the female body has ways to try to shut the whole thing down” if a “legitimate rape” occurs, prompting outrage and condemnation from both sides of the political aisle.

The race might even determine which party will control the U.S. Senate next year. But both Crossroads GPS and the NRSC, which are spending millions to help Republican Senate candidates across the country, vowed not to support Akin in any way after they determined his rape comment threatened to hurt other Republican candidates across the country, according to Tyler.

“It is incomprehensible to me how Rove and Crossroads GPS and the NRSC could possibly stay out of this race” unless they want Akin to lose in November, Tyler told TheDC in a phone interview.

The establishment is choosing to put itself into a box here. If Akin wins, the fire within the conservative wing of the Republican party will be given a huge dose of oxygen because a conservative candidate will have triumphed over prominent liberal incumbent without the help of the establishment. If Akin loses, especially if by a narrow margin, it will have meant establishment pride triumphed over conservatism at best, and that extreme liberals are preferred over conservative Republicans at worst.

Another dynamic is at work here is the establishment's double standard. Mitt Romney was their guy; he won. Conservative voters were not happy with the selection. The establishment asked conservative voters to get behind their guy whether they liked him or not. Conservative voters did just that. In fact, in the wake of Romney's first two debate performances, conservative support for him has reached an energized high.

The natural inverse would be that if a conservative candidate is going against a liberal incumbent, the establishment should do the same.

In the case of Rove, Priebus, and Cornyn, hypocrisy appears to be on full display.

St. Louis Fox Television affiliate KTVI has a news report on tonight's debate between Akin and McCaskill:



Read entire DC piece.

Audio: Newt rallies behind Todd Akin, rails against establishment

Newt Gingrich appeared on the Jamie Allman show in St. Louis on September 24th to make the case for Rep. Todd Akin against Claire McCaskill in a critical Senate race in that state. The former Speaker nailed it when he referred to six seconds of an interview Akin would like to have back compared to six years of 'destructive' votes from McCaskill sensible people wished never took place.

Akin is a conservative, tea party kinda guy. The establishment doesn't like him. Karl Rove joked about his murder at a fundraiser. Gingrich nailed him on it. RNC Chairman Reince Priebus continues to insist Akin will not get a dime of RNC support. Ditto John Cornyn, who heads the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC). It would seem that as the Republican nominee for President, Romney should have a bit of influence on the RNC and the NRSC. If he does, it doesn't appear that he's using any of it to help Akin.

But you know what Romney IS doing? As Newt is in Missouri, campaigning for Akin, Romney will be speaking at Bill Clinton's Global Initiative, perhaps the former president's biggest pet project. Some would argue - myself included - that what Akin said is less distasteful that what Romney is doing by lending voice to the CGI, especially when better use of his time might be spent in Missouri, showing support for Akin.

Here is a screenshot taken from the list of CGI Speakers between September 23rd - 25th:

Once again, the establishment shows that it's not willing to do what it insists conservatives should do - hold their nose and support the Republican nominee.

Here's Newt - otherwise known as the man who should have gotten the nomination - with Jamie Allman.



h/t GWP

PPP Poll: Todd Akin back in the hunt (time for GOP Establishment to follow their own advice)

When Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO), who is in a Senate race to defeat incumbent liberal Democrat Claire McCaskill, used the term 'legitimate rape' in an interview that turned to the subject of abortion, there were basically three arguments from the right for why Akin needed to drop out.

1. It was a stupid thing to say and Republicans are held to a higher standard than Democrats.
2. The comment made him unelectable in a race the Republicans desperately need to win.
3. He would be a lightning rod nationally for the Democrats' 'War on women' narrative.

Karl Rove, who heads a Super-PAC, as well as Reince Priebus, head of the Republican National Committee, have both said Akin will receive no money from their respective entities. Both men have recently been dealt a heaping helping of irony. Rove, who said something far more egregious than Akin did when he made an grossly irresponsible comment about Akin's murder, now has a double standard problem if he doesn't step down from his politically powerful perch. Priebus, who last month said that even if Akin is tied, "we're not going to send him a penny," might have a very similar issue relative to double standards.

First up, here is Priebus pledging not to send Akin any money, regardless of how competitive the latter's race with McCaskill becomes. At the time this video was recorded, polls showed Akin as much as 10 points behind the incumbent.

Via Revealing Politics:

Now, a week later, it looks like Akin and McCaskill are neck-and-neck.

Via Powerline:

A poll taken by PPP on August 28 and 29 has Sen. Claire McCaskill leading Republican challenger Todd Akin by only one point, 45-44. PPP is the same organization that showed McCaskill leading Akin by only one point just after Akin made his stupid remark about rape and reproduction. However, in that poll PPP oversampled Republicans to the tune of 39% R and only 30% D.

In PPP’s latest poll of the race, Republicans made up 35 percent of the sample, while Dems made up 33 percent. Thus, the latest poll is worthy of consideration.

Akin, no doubt, will consider it. The likelihood of him dropping out of the race seems quite small as long as at least one reasonably credible poll shows him basically even with his opponent.

So it would appear that when it comes to the Akin / McCaskill race, we have the unstoppable GOP Establishment force vs. the socially conservative, immovable Senate candidate object. The Akin race is shaping up to be the manifestation of the GOP argument for conservatives to support Romney but in reverse. The establishment tells us constantly... This race is about beating Obama; you need to get behind Romney if for no other reason. The convention showed conservatives are willing to do that.

Here we have an extremely liberal Obama lackey in McCaskill, who threw her entire support behind the Obamacare effort and it's looking like Akin is back in the hunt. The conservatives, in general, have already bought what the establishment is selling when it comes to Romney. It's time for Priebus and the rest of the establishment powers that be to do the same with Akin, else they risk a fate similar to that of the Zax.