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.

Gingrich: Rove would rather have Harry Reid as majority leader than Todd Akin in Senate

Newt Gingrich definitely has a way of contrasting and simplifying things. In an interview with the Daily Caller, he called out the Republican Party establishment for its inexplicable treatment of Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO), who is in a dead heat with extreme liberal Claire McCaskill for a U.S. Senate seat in Missouri.

Newt pulls no punches here, calling Charlie Crist a 'snake' while pointing to the establishment's decision to back him two years ago over Marco Rubio. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), who heads the National Republican Senate Committee (NRSC) was wrong then and he's wrong now.

Gingrich also singled out Karl Rove, again referring to the Fox News contributor's comments at a fundraiser that involved joking about Akin's murder. At the essence of Gingrich's take here is that the Republican establishment seems to have more animus for the conservative wing of its party than it does for the Democrats. That sentiment is clearly not mutual when one considers how conservatives have rallied behind Romney.

The conservative wing of the Party clearly would rather have Romney than Obama but it doesn't seem to be getting reciprocal sentiment from the establishment wing.

Though not doing so by name, at the end of this clip, Gingrich calls out the likes of Rove, Cornyn, and RNC Chairman Reince Priebus when he says that anyone who refuses to support Akin in a race that is neck and neck, would rather have Harry Reid remain on as Senate majority leader than have Akin in the U.S. Senate.

He's absolutely right.

Via the DC:

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

Why Rove despises Todd Akin and what he was willing to do to get him out of the race

One of the consequences of Karl Rove's over-the-top comment about the murder of U.S. Senate candidate in Missouri, Todd Akin, has been a closer examination of the entire Akin controversy. What we're learning is that Akin is more of a Tea Party candidate than perhaps most of us knew; his bonafides in that regard may just be the the burr under Rove's saddle. If so, it would also show that Bush's "brain" knows how to hold grudges, has a long memory, and is far less conservative than many realized.

Cliff Kincaid over at USA Survival has some interesting information about Akin's propensity for not yielding to political pressure when casting votes in the House. Kincaid quotes John Putnam, the state coordinator in Missouri for the Tea Party Patriots:

Putnam says the reason the Republican officials wanted him (Akin) out of the race had nothing to do with abortion. Rather, he said, Akin voted as a member of Congress against several Bush Administration big government proposals, has a record of opposing “the party establishment,” and figures to be a Tea Party senator in Washington, D.C. if he wins the Senate race against Democrat Claire McCaskill.

Putnam says he thinks the GOP establishment doesn’t want any more independent voices in the Senate Republican Caucus. “I look at the role of the Tea Party senators who have come along the last couple years. They have shifted the balance away from the more moderate Republican establishment. I have to wonder how afraid they are to elect more of these Tea Party types,” he said.

Akin, who represents Missouri’s 12th District and has been described as an “avid student of the U.S. Constitution,” voted against President Bush’s “No Child Left Behind” bill to expand the federal role in education; against Bush’s extravagant expansion of Medicare through what is called Part D, or prescription drug coverage; and against Bush’s federal bailout of Wall Street after the economic collapse in September 2008.

Akin’s website describes him as “one of just 16 legislators who opposed the series of bailouts which rewarded irresponsible behavior with taxpayer dollars in 2008 and 2009.”

Moreover, it appears that a George Soros-funded Super-PAC is responsible for tracking Akin and starting the whole 'legitimate rape' / abortion flap in the first place. The Republican establishment then jumped on it and apparently decided to use this information to attempt to force Akin out of the race, not because of the abortion issue but because the Missouri congressman doesn't seem to compromise on matters the establishment deems important.

The controversy over Missouri Republican Senate candidate Todd Akin’s abortion comments was started by a George Soros-funded Democratic Party Super-PAC and the “bait” was taken by Republican Party officials who wanted him out of the race for other reasons, says John Putnam, Missouri state coordinator for the national Tea Party Patriots group.

The Super-PAC, American Bridge, was started by former conservative turned liberal and homosexual activist David Brock, who also runs the Soros-funded Media Matters group. American Bridge sends “trackers” to follow conservative and Republican candidates in the hope that the candidate makes some controversial statements that can be distorted or taken out of context and used for partisan political purposes.

In this case, Putnam says, Republicans are the ones who used the material against Akin disseminated by American Bridge. “The first few days after the Democrats put out this distorted [abortion] comment, it was the Republican hierarchy that really acted like sharks in the water, striking this fresh meat,” Putnam said.

Isn't it interesting how...

The establishment tells conservatives not to eat its own, to get behind establishment candidates like Mitt Romney, et. al. when they win the primary? Tea Party candidates are painted as extremists who are more interested in cutting off their noses to spite their faces. Yet, if this report is correct, it will have meant that the Republican Party establishment jumped on information provided by a 'tracker' paid by a Soros-funded Super-PAC to get a conservative Tea Party Senatorial candidate out of the race.

Can anyone see the Tea Party doing such a thing?

In fact, during the same fundraiser at which Rove made those despicable comments about Akin getting 'murdered', he encouraged the Party not to go hard after Obama so Republicans could woo independents. Ironically, Rove has no compunction about going hard after Akin by utilizing information provided by a George Soros-backed Super-PAC. Why is Rove not worried about wooing Tea Party voters?

It's the establishment - not the Tea Party - that is looking increasingly like the entity that prefers the whole loaf over the half loaf while wanting to have its cake and it eat too.

Meanwhile, the conservative media appears to have little interest in going after Rove while having no compunction about going hard after Akin.

Yes, that includes Sean Hannity. More irony is that when someone like Hannity sticks by Rove in instances like this, it reinforces the views of independents who think the talk show host is just a partisan hack. Again, such things drive independents away; they don't move them to the right.

Read it all.

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.

Video: Newt rips Rove over 'murder' comments

Newt invoked the name Gabriele Giffords on Meet the Press while ripping Rove over the latter joking about the murder of Senatorial candidate Todd Akin. Conservative pundits who excuse Rove should ask themselves what their reaction would be if it were the leader of a Democratic Super PAC who joked about the murder of a sitting Republican congressman. Any attempt to excuse Rove's comments is very hypocritical and would be an example of a double standard the right often complains exists on the left.

Hard to argue.

Via Huffington Post:

Much better video of Newt via Daily Caller. Pay particularly close attention to how he literally stuns the other panelists, leaving them completely silent. At one point, he calls out Thomas Friedman, who offered an incredibly lame response after being called out. No one chews up liberals and spits them out as thoroughly as Gingrich does.

Folks, Newt should have been the Republican nominee. Period.

Karl Rove needs to go

After Senate candidate, Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) made that 'legitimate rape' comment, forces within the Republican Party began working furiously to force him out. The RNC stopped contributing to his campaign; ditto for the Super PAC headed by Karl Rove. The comments made by Akin made him unelectable according to the Republican establishment. The fact that he was a social conservative likely made the attempts to force him out all the more forceful.

Akin refused to budge, which significantly rankled the Republican powers that be, including Rove. The degree to which Rove was rankled seemed to be made a bit clearer by what the former senior advisor to George W. Bush said a breakfast with some high dollar donors last week. A reporter for Bloomberg Businessweek was invited to that breakfast by one of the donors. She recorded Rove's comments and what he said was far more egregious than what Akin had said.

Via Bloomberg:

On the final morning of the Republican National Convention, Karl Rove took the stage at the Tampa Club to provide an exclusive breakfast briefing to about 70 of the Republican Party’s highest-earning and most powerful donors. During the more than hour-long session, Rove explained to an audience dotted with hedge fund billionaires and investors—including John Paulson and Wilbur Ross—how his super PAC, American Crossroads, will persuade undecided voters in crucial swing states to vote against Barack Obama. He also detailed plans for Senate and House races, and joked, “We should sink Todd Akin. If he’s found mysteriously murdered, don’t look for my whereabouts!”

After this story broke, Rove would apologize to Akin less than 24 hours later.

Via NewsDay:

Missouri U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin said he accepted an apology from Republican strategist Karl Rove for a joke about the congressman being “found mysteriously murdered.”

Akin said in a Facebook posting on his campaign website, “I appreciate the call from Karl Rove, and accept the apology.” Rove called Akin Aug. 31, Rick Tyler, an Akin campaign adviser, told the Associated Press. A message seeking comment from Akin’s campaign wasn’t returned Saturday.

Of course, using Rove's standard for what should be cause for Akin to step down would assuredly require Rove himself to step down from having a position of influence in Republican campaigns. Telling jokes about the murder of people who you don't want representing your Party should qualify.

Two highly respected conservative stalwarts - William Murray and Phyllis Schlafly - have both called on Rove to step down. Incidentally, it was Murray who in the days after 9/11, enunciated perfectly who was behind the attacks; he wanted the Bush administration to target the Saudi government. As it turns out, Murray was right and Bush / Rove were wrong.