Todd Akin and Missouri
You know the headlines already:
And you know how people have reacted.
Now, what you probably haven’t thought about is this isn’t Los Angeles or New York that’s doing the voting. It’s Missouri. Missouri’s a little different place than you average media hub. Just two weeks ago Missouri passed a statewide amendment to protect the right to pray. This amendment’s not bashful It:
- Ensures the right to pray individually or in groups in private or public places, as long as the prayer does not disturb the peace or disrupt a meeting
- Prohibits the state from coercing religious activity.
- Protects the right to pray on government property.
- Protects the right of legislative bodies to sponsor prayers and invocations.
- Says students need not take part in assignments or presentations that violate their religious beliefs.
And of course, protects the right for voluntary prayer in school. This thing flies right smack in the face of a myriad of Supeme Court rulings. It begs for a whole bunch of lawsuits. And, it just wreaks of paybacks against ACLU. But you know what, with all that going against it. It didn’t squeak by. It won by a 5-1 margin.
There is an evangelical base in Missouri that is a HUGE voting block. Todd Akin is tapping that block. Additionally, he’s made it an us vs them issue against the Republican leaders. And, he’s still raising money. In the midst of the media backlash and the Obamas mocking him publicly and loudly, he raised over $100,000 simply with small donations. In other words, he’s not dead. And you know what, this issue struck at the heart of the evangelical abortion issue. It wasn’t some gray area. It was the definition of life. He screwed up describing a rape. What he didn’t do was back down in his belief that life begins at inception and needs to be protected regardless of the circumstances of that conception.
That’s evangelical. That’s the block that just passed a law that tells the Supreme Court and the ACLU to shove it by a HUGE margin.
I’m not going to rule Akin out. Wounded maybe, but he’s circled his wagons very well politically. And, this election won’t be decided in New York or Los Angeles.
And for what it’s worth. I don’t agree with him. Just looking at this from a purely political angle and how he’s handled a very public, and somewhat deserved, public lynching.
And if you don’t think it’s a politically motivated lynching, name the representative, also in a race, who got busted having oral sex with a 17 year old boy. Sure, he finally gave up trying to get re-elected, but you sure don’t see Michelle Obama lecturing on that one.
