Will Akin distract Romney/Ryan's pre RNC week?

[MorningInAmerica]

If you haven't heard, GOP MO Sen nominee Todd Aiken said something really stupid about rape and abortion over the weekend, noting that victims of "legitimate rape" don't get pregnant due to some mumbo jumbo about women's bodies rejecting rape sperm or something.

Anyway Romney/Ryan campaign condemned the remark, but is that the end of it? In their comments the campaign said that Romney/Ryan were not against abortion in the case of rape. However, Ryan actually has been against the rape exception in the past and he co-sponsored legislation with Aiken which tried to redefine rape (to just "forcible rape"). Ryan is also a co-sponsor of the "Sanctity of Human Life Act", which gives "all the legal and constitutional attributes of personhood" to fertilized eggs (essentially outlawing all abortions and some forms of birth control and in vitro fertilization).

This thing could end up as a big distraction between now and the RNC with ROmney/Ryan spending a week talking about abortion, rape, IVF, Personhood, etc. Things that they probably don't want to be talking about. You can bet the Dems are going to use this opportunity to try and run up the score on their gender gap.

Looks like Akin's out.

Erick Erickson, the head of RedState, has just tweeted this.

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Will be interesting to see if this is true.

[MorningInAmerica]

Well known University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato makes a good  point about the Missouri GOP (which gets to decide who Akin's replacement is in event of his withdrawal):

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[MorningInAmerica]

Not sure, but Buzzfeed.com writer Andrew Kacynski is confirming too that Todd Akin will withdraw from the MO sen race. The GOP could really be saving themselves here if that is true. Akin is finished after his comments.

Buzzfeed now how a link: http://www.buzzfeed.com/bensmith/republican-source-akin-moving-to-withdraw

Really, if he withdraws, what will the media talk about for the rest of the week?

[MorningInAmerica]

This is shaping up to be a real sh*t storm. Last thing RNC wants is a public fight with Akin. But they may get it according to Politico: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/79889.html?hp=t1_3

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[MorningInAmerica]

Yep, he's saying for now that he's staying in.  We'll see how long this lasts:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444443504577601481043101626.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

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[MorningInAmerica]

Well TPM is just reporting that the party wants him out  but he is saying he is staying in. There is no indication he can be kicked out, so it is up to him.

I think by the end of the day Romney should call for him to drop out. What does he have to lose? It doesnt take a lot of courage now as many other republicans have already done it.

Fom WMUR, a New Hampshire news station: http://www.wmur.com/news/politics/Romney-calls-Akin-s-comments-on-rape-indefensible/-/9857748/16200484/-/um4xor/-/index.html#ixzz247hEUv1K

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[MorningInAmerica]

ABC News politics reporter Chris Good just tweeted that the Romney campaign is actively involved in speaking with Todd Akin.

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Is there really any doubt they're saying "get the eff out!" ?

[MorningInAmerica]

Todd Akin, unless I'm hearing wrong, will be a guest on Piers Morgan tonight. Sounds like a really, really, bad, awful, stupid idea, if true.

Edited to add ABC politics reporter's tweet:

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[MorningInAmerica]

Romney and Ryan, among others, have called him personally. Ryan and Cornyn multiple times. TPE and Levin also want him out. Romney needs to call Huckabee and ask for a favor. There are conflicting reports about whether Akin's on Morgan- last I heard that was cancelled.

Dana Loesch contacted the Akin campaign. Apparently he's a NO for Piers Morgan. Could this mean he's on his way out tomorrow?

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[MorningInAmerica]

Sam Feist of CNN tweets this:

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Just a thought, if Piers Morgan is acting like he's been stood up by Akin, then maybe ABC' Chris Good is right...a non-appearance by Akin could imply he's dropping out tomorrow. Otherwise, why schedule the interview to begin with, just to cancel it?

[MorningInAmerica]

According to a brand new PPP poll about to be released, this has had little effect on Akin's polling against McCaskill. Either it hasn't had time to sink in for Missouri voters, or McCaskill is just that unpopular.

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http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2012/08/akin-44-mccaskill-43.html#more

Akin's still leading with Independents, 45-41% (!). He's at an anemic 24/58% favorability rating, though apparently that will get you more of the vote in this poll than McCakill's 41/53% job approval rating.

[MorningInAmerica]

Also, SurveyUSA has a new poll out showing that 54% of Missouri voters think Akin should leave the race, 35% think he should stay in. 52% of Republicans want him to stay in, while 33% want him to exit.

http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=be5d9bf6-7675-4341-920a-8fcb71d9e9de

[MorningInAmerica]

Former GOP governor's and senators Danforth, Blunt, Ashcroft, and Bond have called on #Akin to quit.

Than of course, Mike Huckabee tweets this:

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So we will have a final answer on this in less than 30 mins.

[MorningInAmerica]

Well that was quick:

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Akin is in. Ego trumps reality, as it typically does in politics.

[MorningInAmerica]

This may not be the REAL deadline, tweets NBC News political Director: Domenico Montanaro

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Apparently Akin also just compared his staying in the race to 9/11 on the Mike Huckabee radio show. So basically, he's still a ticking time bomb. If his poll numbers continue to plunge, would be interesting to see what he does between now and September 25th. The REAL deadline.