Last updated on February 8th, 2013 at 01:58 pm
Want to know how Republican Todd Akin is gonna win the Missouri Senate race? He’s gonna win because Democrat Claire McCaskill wasn’t “ladylike” at the debate. She was “aggressive”.
Akin told the Charlotte Observer, “I think we have a very clear path to victory, and apparently Claire McCaskill thinks we do, too, because she was very aggressive at the debate, which was quite different than it was when she ran against Jim Talent. She had a confidence and was much more ladylike (in 2006), but in the debate on Friday she came out swinging, and I think that’s because she feels threatened.”
So perhaps that was a legitimate debate, if she felt legitimately threatened, but then bad Claire got “aggressive” and we all know that legitimate ladylike wins.
The other so not ladylike thing McCaskill did was put out an ad drawing attention to Akin’s legitimate extremism as soon as the very last deadline for him to drop out passed.
McCaskill’s ad was clever in that it used Akin’s legitimate rape comments as part of a broader picture of who he is. McCaskill also hit Akin on his dislike of Social Security, his belief that Medicare was unconstitutional, his position that the minimum wage should be abolished, and his campaign pledge to eliminate student loans. The ad was designed to point out Akin’s extremism. The centerpiece of that extremism is Akin’s legitimate rape comments.
Todd Akin’s path to victory is that Claire McCaskill wasn’t ladylike because she is threatened by him, which suggests that if a woman is aggressive, it’s because she’s threatened, not because she is a good competitor.
Legitimate rape believer Todd Akin didn’t pull out when the GOP wanted him to, and now they’re flocking to support the Republican and all of his extremist policies, “The National Republican Senatorial Committee now supports his candidacy and has reopened the door to spending on his behalf.”
Not to worry, that isn’t too hard for the Republicans, since Akin’s beliefs are mirrored in the national party’s platform, but this is a topic they prefer to keep under wraps.
It looked like Akin was going to take a beating at the polls after he told us all that women can’t get pregnant if they are legitimately raped. People were shocked. Republicans ran away in droves. But Akin, clearly a believer in Republican fantasies that violate all standards of science and anatomy and indeed history, hung in there. He claims that he can ride Romney’s coattails to a win because people won’t cross over party lines after casting their vote for the rich guy.
Perhaps not, but then, why would they need to when Romney has the same beliefs as Akin? Yes, Romney said he supported the Personhood Amendment and then he told Americans that he actually believed in exceptions for the life of the mother. But guess whose campaign quietly retracted that after Romney tricked the public in his big interview? That’s right. Turns out the Romney campaign says Romney doesn’t believe in exceptions in the case of the the life of the mother.
Romney equals Akin on women’s issues, and that’s not ladylike at all, because there is no legitimate reason to force a woman to have the baby of a rapist, and there’s even less of a legitimate reason to force a woman to die under the guise of being “pro-life”.
The GOP has a message for all you women — your place is to be ladylike when you are being legitimately raped in a campaign. If you are aggressive enough in fighting a rape you won’t get pregnant, which never would have happened in the first place if you were ladylike enough. But, if you are aggressive when fighting in an election, you are threatened and therefor are not ladylike. So, it’s not ladylike to fight back, but if you don’t fight back, you will be forced to carry Todd Akin’s baby. Or something. Shh! Go be ladylike, girls.
Claire better watch out or Akin will have all of his frat-boy staffers mocking her at his rallies, acting all unladylike and stuff, because they are such Southern gentlemen.
A few reminders are in order: Rapists cause rape, not the behavior of the target. Rape can and does result in pregnancy. Women are human beings, not dolls. They can compete fiercely and well. Being aggressive in competition is a position of strength and a source of pride for women just as it is for men. It is not a woman’s job to take it easy on a man in competition so that his ego isn’t bruised, which seems to be what Todd Akin is hoping to achieve by trying to force McCaskill to back off and be ‘ladylike’.
If Todd Akin can’t take the heat of an aggressive Claire McCaskill, he should get out of the country’s kitchen. Whining isn’t going to cut it.
Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.
Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
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