And sometimes, that’s for the best. When a Republican says something offensively dumbass (or dumbassly offensive), said Republican will be raked over the coals over it by the press, and it will be used over and over in the quest to tar Republicans as a whole. And thus, sometimes a strategic retreat is the only real tactic available.
Example: Missouri Congressman Akin, who is running for the Senate, made this monumental linguistic blunder while discussing abortion in the context of pregnancy by rape:
“It seems to me 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.”
There are two things here. One: is pregnancy by rape rare? Does the female body react in such a way that it works to prevent fertilization of eggs in such a situation? I don’t know. I seem to vaguely reading about that some years ago. But even so, “rare” doesn’t mean “never.”
Second: “legitimate rape.” Ouch. I can kinda get what he’s saying… *IF* the female body works to prevent pregnancy by violent rape, it may well not do so in the case of what I suppose Whoopi Goldberg might not refer to as “rape rape.” I guess something like drunken sex that is later regretted, and thus a dubious rape allegation is made… the physiological responses that hypothetically might have prevented a successful pregnancy probably wouldn’t kick in here. But regardless, “legitimate rape” is one of those clumsy phrases calculated to get the speaker in a boatload of trouble.
Even before the Democrat Attack Machine really got up and running over this Monumental Outrage, the Republican party decided that Akin had to go.
Scott Brown calls for Todd Akin to drop out of Senate race
If Akin Remains In, the NRSC Will Spend Nothing on Mo. Senate Race
Romney: Akin’s Comment ‘Inexcusable’
And even a bunch of Freepers agree that the comments are stupid and replacement-worthy.
And so:
Reports: Akin Advisers Make Preparations For Withdrawal Tomorrow
I don’t know if Akin had a legitimate point about “legitimate rape,” but I do know that what he said was, in this age of instant media, massively impolitic. And… he’s a politician. This would indicate that he’s just not good at his job.
From the viewpoint of a libertarian, the biggest problem with Akin was that he has given the Democrats a massive opportunity to try to convince the voting public that the big issue this voting season is abortion, not the dismal economy. That alone should merit Akin a smackdown from his party.