The GOP panicked like a herd of cattle and fell all over themselves trying to distance themselves

[kpete]

If Barack Obama hadn’t been calling out the GOP on their terrible record on women’s reproductive rights for months, Akin’s comments to a local TV station on a Sunday would have never meant anything.

And let’s be clear—what made this story was the Republicans’ reactions to Akin’s stupidity. They panicked like a herd of cattle and fell all over themselves in a fevered attempt to get distance from him. That’s the tell. We all know Romney’s gonna lose women, but the important question for the GOP is by how much.

This is the key.

The intensity of the desire to banish Akin from the 2012 cycle is exactly in proportion to Republicans’ perceived vulnerability on what the Democrats term the “War on Women”. And that means they feel pretty damned vulnerable. Akin is particularly ignorant and offensive. But his basic points are actually pretty similar to what a large swath of the Congressional GOP believes. Holding that up to bright light scrutiny just as the bulk of the public is tuning into the national political debate is perilous in the extreme.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2012/08/do_you_get_it.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Talking-Points-Memo+%28Talking+Points+Memo%3A+by+Joshua+Micah+Marshall%29

[uponit7771]

1. The "Forcible Rape" questions are coming to Ryan already...this should be good if the M$M even does

...a half ass'd job

[pinboy3niner]

2. The DNC may have to give Akin a Major Award. :)

As Eugene Robinson observed, it brought the GOP's war on women back to the fore. It knocked their campaign's messages out of the spotlight and forced them to address one of the last things they wanted to be talking about now.

They're still struggling--unsuccessfully--to change the subject.