The Republican Party has rightly recoiled from Todd Akin’s bizarre comment that the female body “has ways” to shut down and prevent pregnancy in cases of “legitimate rape.” But Akin, described in this morning’s New York Post as “the dumb-as-dog-poo Missouri Republican,” seems to want to magnify his already horrendous mistake by staying in the race.
“I am not a quitter,” Akin said, as Republicans are begging him to drop out of the race before 5 pm today, after which time, he will remain on the ballot, no matter what. In this instance, being a quitter is the only moderately decent thing Akin can do after a horribly indecent remark. If he drops out, he'll have time to read some history and biology, and thereby discover that women throughout history have become pregnant when raped by, say marauding armies (as Dennis Prager says he would inform Akin if Akin had made such a mind-boggling remark in his presence).
If Akin remains in the race, however, he will be even more of a pariah than he is now. Were he by some miracle to win, he would still be an embarrassment. In addition to all this, Akin, spouting what the Wall Street Journal calls a “novel reproductive concept,” comes along at a time when Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have a fair shot at persuading women that government overreach is bad for everybody, women included. Akin is a gift to the “war on women” crowd. He has about ten hours to show that, while he may not be the brightest bulb in the chandelier, he won't compound his mistake.
Prager explains why Akin's departure from the race is of such paramount importance, beyond just gaining control of the Senate:
This country is on the verge of an inexorable moral, social, and economic decline. The Left is doing to America what it has done to almost everything it has deeply influenced — the arts, the university, religion, culture, minorities, Europe: ruining it. It is therefore morally incumbent on conservatives to do everything in their power not to give the Left legitimate targets.
The Weekly Standard has looked at the polls and only 35 percent of Missouri adults want him to remain in the race. (Who are these people, aside from Claire McCaskill and her staff?)