Democrats, aiming to widen the gender gap among voters, which could prove crucial in November, moved quickly Monday to keep the focus on the views of Rep. Todd Akin, a staunch pro-life Senate candidate who used the phrase “legitimate rape” in talking about abortion and pregnancy.
Akin said that “legitimate rape” rarely results in pregnancy, but later posted on his Facebook page that he “misspoke.”
Sen. Claire McCaskill, the Democratic incumbent running against Akin in Missouri, called the comments a “window into [Akin’s] mind.” But Democrats are trying to link Akin’s comments to the Republican brand more broadly, potentially damaging the GOP’s chances with independents and women.
The Democratic National Committee sent out a message titled “Stunningly Backward” to supporters asking that they stand up for women.
“Now, Akin’s choice of words isn’t the real issue here,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.) wrote in the letter. “The real issue is a Republican party -- led by Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan -- whose policies on women and their health are dangerously wrong.”
Also Monday, Mitt Romney and other Republicans immediately began to distance themselves from Akin, with Sen. Scott Brown (Mass.) calling on him to pull out of his Senate campaign. In a phone interview with the National Review Online, presidential challenger Romney forcefully denounced the House member’s remarks.
“Congressman’s Akin comments on rape are insulting, inexcusable, and, frankly, wrong,” Romney said. “Like millions of other Americans, we found them to be offensive.”
Brown, who is running for reelection, went further in his denouncement and issued a statement, saying: “As a husband and father of two young women, I found Todd Akin’s comments about women and rape outrageous, inappropriate and wrong. There is no place in our public discourse for this type of offensive thinking. Not only should he apologize, but I believe Rep. Akin’s statement was so far out of bounds that he should resign the nomination for U.S. Senate in Missouri.”
The fury over Akin’s comments comes as Republicans gear up for their Tampa convention, set to begin next week. A select group of 112 delegates began meeting Monday to outline the party’s platform, which will likely include abortion language. A draft being circulated among delegates endorses a constitutional amendment prohibiting abortion.
Virginia Governor, Bob McDonnell, who chairs the GOP’s platform committee, also came down hard on Akin, as other Republicans try to publicly and privately push him from the race.
“I just think that those of us who cherish human life because we believe that all life is a gift from the Creator, we need to be able to express our support for human life in positive and uplifting ways, and those comments absolutely do not do that,” McDonnell said in an interview, as he circulated among delegates.
He stopped short of saying that Akin should leave the Senate race. “The people of Missouri will determine what if anything they’ll do.”
On Saturday, President Obama’s campaign released an ad in six swing states that highlights Romney’s and Ryan’s past comments on abortion and other women’s health issues.
“He’s made his choice, but what choice will women be left with?” the ad, called “The Same” states. “Just like Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan would get rid of Planned Parenthood funding. In Congress, Ryan voted to ban all federal funding for Planned Parenthood and to allow employers to deny women access to cancer screenings and birth control.”
In 2011, Ryan, who opposes abortion except when the life of the mother is in danger, co-sponsored a measure that sought to define life as beginning at conception. The “personhood bill” would give legal and constitutional rights to embryos.
A Washington Post-Kaiser Family foundation poll conducted July 25 to Aug. 5 shows that 55 percent of all Americans said abortion should be legal in all or most cases, compared with 42 percent who said it should be illegal.
Among women 56 percent say abortion should be legal and 41 say it should be illegal; among men, it’s 54 percent legal and 42 percent illegal.
Some 17 percent of Americans say that abortion should be illegal in all cases, according the poll.
The most recent Washington Post shows Obama leading by 22 points among women.
Behind the scenes, other Republicans are joining with Brown in trying to push Akin from the Missouri race, which is key to their chances for recapturing the Senate.
He was the preferred choice for Democrats because of his conservative views.
“This comment is indefensible, and it’s going to be very hard to sustain an adequate defense in the face of avalanche of responses from Democrats and Republicans alike on the national and local level,” said Ron Bonjean, a Republican strategist. “He has to really think about whether he can run an effective race.”
Peyton Craighill contributed to this report.
Akin said that “legitimate rape” rarely results in pregnancy, but later posted on his Facebook page that he “misspoke.”
Sen. Claire McCaskill, the Democratic incumbent running against Akin in Missouri, called the comments a “window into [Akin’s] mind.” But Democrats are trying to link Akin’s comments to the Republican brand more broadly, potentially damaging the GOP’s chances with independents and women.
The Democratic National Committee sent out a message titled “Stunningly Backward” to supporters asking that they stand up for women.
“Now, Akin’s choice of words isn’t the real issue here,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.) wrote in the letter. “The real issue is a Republican party -- led by Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan -- whose policies on women and their health are dangerously wrong.”
Also Monday, Mitt Romney and other Republicans immediately began to distance themselves from Akin, with Sen. Scott Brown (Mass.) calling on him to pull out of his Senate campaign. In a phone interview with the National Review Online, presidential challenger Romney forcefully denounced the House member’s remarks.
“Congressman’s Akin comments on rape are insulting, inexcusable, and, frankly, wrong,” Romney said. “Like millions of other Americans, we found them to be offensive.”
Brown, who is running for reelection, went further in his denouncement and issued a statement, saying: “As a husband and father of two young women, I found Todd Akin’s comments about women and rape outrageous, inappropriate and wrong. There is no place in our public discourse for this type of offensive thinking. Not only should he apologize, but I believe Rep. Akin’s statement was so far out of bounds that he should resign the nomination for U.S. Senate in Missouri.”
The fury over Akin’s comments comes as Republicans gear up for their Tampa convention, set to begin next week. A select group of 112 delegates began meeting Monday to outline the party’s platform, which will likely include abortion language. A draft being circulated among delegates endorses a constitutional amendment prohibiting abortion.
Virginia Governor, Bob McDonnell, who chairs the GOP’s platform committee, also came down hard on Akin, as other Republicans try to publicly and privately push him from the race.
“I just think that those of us who cherish human life because we believe that all life is a gift from the Creator, we need to be able to express our support for human life in positive and uplifting ways, and those comments absolutely do not do that,” McDonnell said in an interview, as he circulated among delegates.
He stopped short of saying that Akin should leave the Senate race. “The people of Missouri will determine what if anything they’ll do.”
On Saturday, President Obama’s campaign released an ad in six swing states that highlights Romney’s and Ryan’s past comments on abortion and other women’s health issues.
“He’s made his choice, but what choice will women be left with?” the ad, called “The Same” states. “Just like Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan would get rid of Planned Parenthood funding. In Congress, Ryan voted to ban all federal funding for Planned Parenthood and to allow employers to deny women access to cancer screenings and birth control.”
In 2011, Ryan, who opposes abortion except when the life of the mother is in danger, co-sponsored a measure that sought to define life as beginning at conception. The “personhood bill” would give legal and constitutional rights to embryos.
A Washington Post-Kaiser Family foundation poll conducted July 25 to Aug. 5 shows that 55 percent of all Americans said abortion should be legal in all or most cases, compared with 42 percent who said it should be illegal.
Among women 56 percent say abortion should be legal and 41 say it should be illegal; among men, it’s 54 percent legal and 42 percent illegal.
Some 17 percent of Americans say that abortion should be illegal in all cases, according the poll.
The most recent Washington Post shows Obama leading by 22 points among women.
Behind the scenes, other Republicans are joining with Brown in trying to push Akin from the Missouri race, which is key to their chances for recapturing the Senate.
He was the preferred choice for Democrats because of his conservative views.
“This comment is indefensible, and it’s going to be very hard to sustain an adequate defense in the face of avalanche of responses from Democrats and Republicans alike on the national and local level,” said Ron Bonjean, a Republican strategist. “He has to really think about whether he can run an effective race.”
Peyton Craighill contributed to this report.