That would be Mitt Romney campaigning with Indiana Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock in the photo above. Mitt Romney recently cut a TV ad endorsing Mourdock, calling him the “51st vote in the U.S. Senate”:

The 51st vote in the United States Senate? Scary thought – the guy who thinks Social Security and Medicare are “unconstitutional” could be the 51st vote in the Senate? The guy who said that bipartisanship is “driving us into bankruptcy”, and also said that his idea of bipartisanship is Democrats coming to the Republican point of view? The guy who said:

 I struggled with myself for a long time but I came to realize life is that gift from God, even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape. It is something that God intended to happen.

“Something that God intended to happen“. The old “It’s God’s Will!” argument. Was it “God’s will” that the rape happened in the first place? Do we stop prosecuting murderers because the murder must have been God’s will? Do we let Jerry Sandusky out of prison because his rapes of young boys must have been God’s will? No, we don’t – because it wasn’t God’s will, it was the heinous acts of men. And pregnancy isn’t God’s will, it’s a sperm cell and egg cell uniting.

It’s sad just how far the Republican party has sunk. Remember Todd “Legitimate rape” Akin? Think those two Republican Senate candidates are isolated cases? Nope, there’s plenty of Republican Congressmen and Senators who think exactly like Richard Mourdock and Todd Akin, but have the political savvy to keep their mouths shut. Congressman and Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan, Todd Akin and over 200 other Republican Congressmen co-sponsored a bill in Congress that re-defined the definition of rape. The Hyde Amendment has long banned any federal funding for abortion, except in cases of rape, incest or the danger to the life of the mother from a pregnancy. Paul Ryan, Todd Akin and over 200 others thought that too many women were getting a free pass on that rapey thing. They tried to insert the word “forcible” in front of “rape”, they tried to say the woman had to bear signs of being “forcibly raped” – that she clearly had been beaten into submission. Didn’t fight back hard enough? No rape exception for you. Victim of the so called “date rape” drug, slipped a mickey that puts your mind so far out in lah-lah land you have no idea or recollection of what you did? No rape exception for you. Victim of statutory rape, an adult forcing himself onto someone far too young to understand what they are doing? No rape exception for you. Republicans eventually had to take the term “forcible” out of the bill because of public outcry, but that’s what they tried to do.

When you consider the choice between President Obama and Mitt Romney, remember that Mitt Romney thinks Richard Mourdock would make a just fine & dandy 51st Senator.

When you consider the choice between Richard Carmona and Jeff Flake for the U.S. Senate, remember that Jeff Flake could be serving and voting with the likes of Richard Mourdock and Todd Akin, and remember what women think of Rich Carmona.

Those of you in Congressional District (CD) 1, when you consider the choice between Ann Kirkpatrick and Jonathon Paton, remember that Jonathon Paton could be voting for bills passed by a Republican House that could be approved by a Senate with the likes of Richard Mourdock and Todd Akin and signed into law by a President Romney should Republicans win control of the Senate and Mitt Romney win the election.

Those of you in CD 2, when you consider the choice between Ron Barber and Martha McSally, remember that Martha McSally could be voting for bills passed by a Republican House that could be approved by a Senate with the likes of Richard Mourdock and Todd Akin and signed into law by a President Romney should Republicans win control of the Senate and Mitt Romney win the election.

Those of you in CD 3, when you consider the choice between Raul Grijalva and Gabriele  Saucedo-Mercer , remember that Saucedo-Mercer could be voting for bills passed by a Republican House that could be approved by a Senate with the likes of Richard Mourdock and Todd Akin and signed into law by a President Romney should Republicans win control of the Senate and Mitt Romney win the election.

This election isn’t about Obama – it’s about your mama. It’s about your daughter, your sister, and it’s about you.

Invasion of the Zombies on their way to the voting booth? Mitt Romney campaign political director Rich Beeson dismissed yesterday dismissed recent polls showing every single battleground state slipping away from Mitt Romney.

“The public polls are what they are. I feel confident about where we are. At the end of the day, Ohio is going to come down to the wire.”

Come down to the wire? The latest swing state polls from Quinnipiac University, CBS News and the New York Times show Obama holding leads of 10 points in Ohio, 9 points in Florida and 12 points in Pennsylvania.  In all three states, 51 percent of voters prefer Obama over Romney to preside over the national economy — a policy area over which the president has seized the upper-hand in the last month. About 60 percent of voters in Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania say Obama understands and cares about their problems, while similarly large majorities say Romney does not.Obama’s consistent advantage among women voters has spanned virtually the entire campaign, but the gender gap has swollen considerably in the three states. The president holds commanding leads among women voters in Ohio (25 points), Florida (19 points) and Pennsylvania (21 points).

Mitt Romney campaign political director Rich Beeson  claimed the competitiveness of the race in states like Wisconsin and Iowa suggest a close national contest. “This is a wide open race” he claimed.

Meanwhile, back in the land of reality, last week’s NBC/Marist poll has the President leading Romney 50-42% in Iowa. The same poll has Obama leading Romney 50-45% in Wisconsin; PPP has it 52-45%. Does Mr. Beeson see dead people planning on coming back from the grave and into a voting booth? Or is their internal polling done by the same make believe NFL referees that gave Seattle a winning touchdown over Green Bay? Langer Research Associates poll for ABC News & Washington Post 9/19-23:

Overall, do you have a favorable or unfavorable impression of the way Barack Obama is running his presidential campaign?
Favorable: 53
Unfavorable: 45

…the way Mitt Romney is running his presidential campaign?
Favorable: 36
Unfavorable: 61

  …Romney’s recent comments about people who don’t pay income taxes?
Favorable: 33
Unfavorable: 54

Yes, election day is still 6 weeks away and anything can happen. Well, sorta. Except for that little thing called early voting. Early voting kicks off tomorrow in  Iowa, and with more swing states following close behind, including Ohio next Tuesday, George Mason University professor Michael McDonald, who researches early voting behavior, forecasts that 35% of the vote will be cast before Election Day. That’s nationwide; in many states it’s much higher. In the swing state of Colorado, 78% of all votes in 2008 were cast prior to election day; this year it;’s predicted to be 85%. Here in Arizona, where we start getting early mail-in ballots 2 weeks from tomorrow, it’s predicted over 65% of all ballots will be cast prior to election day.

So, desperate times call for desperate measures, and the Republicans are getting desperate. In the Massachusetts Senate race, GOP darling Scott Brown decided to make his closing argument challenging Democrat Elizabeth Warren’s claim of Native American ancestry because  . . . she looks white to him. At a campaign rally yesterday Warren supporters were taunted with Indian war whoops and tomahawk chops. Among those doing the taunting were Brown’s deputy Chief of Staff Greg Casey and Constituent Service Counsel Jack Richard. Those guys’ salaries are paid by taxpayers, and they belittle Native Americans? Scott Brown, you deserve to loose. And Missouri GOP Senate candidate Todd “Legitimate Rape” Akin? After he made those remarks Republican Party leaders demanded his resignation, calling his remarks “disgraceful”. Yesterday those same party leaders were saying “Todd Akin is a principled conservative who is committed to winning and fighting for freedom in the U.S. Senate”. Why the sudden about face? Yesterday was the absolute deadline for Akin to drop out of the race and have his name removed from the ballot, and their fading hopes of gaining control of the Senate is more important to them than principle. No rape is legitimate, and no, women who are rape victims have no magic defense from getting pregnant. Mr. Akin, you deserve to lose.  And here in Arizona, Democratic Senate candidate Richard Carmona released a new ad pointing out a series of votes Jeff Flake cast on veterans’ issues, including cuts to services and his opposition to a bonus for Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans. Jeff Flake, you deserve to lose.

The Mecklenburg County VA Republican Party’s Facebook page:

Nice. You guys all deserve to lose. Big time.

Add would be Arizona Republican U.S. Senator Jeff Flake to the chorus line of Republicans appalled by Rep. Todd Akin’s claim that women have a magical defense preventing them from getting pregnant from a rape Rep. Akin hurting their chances of gaining control of the Senate and he should withdraw from the race. He went even further in a speech to Pima County Republicans, claiming:

“I have always, throughout my career, said that there should be exceptions for rape, for incest and for life of the mother, “ Flake said. “I’ve received a lot of criticism from groups on the right because my position wasn’t as they wanted it to be, but that’s been my position and I’m sticking with it”.

Oh really? Always, throughout his career? Jeff Flake seems to have a short memory. Just last year Congressman Flake was a cosponsor – along with Congressmen Todd Akin and Paul Ryan -  of House Resolution 3, the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act”. Taxpayer funding for any abortions has already been prevented since 1976 through the Hyde Amendment, which prevents taxpayer monies from paying for abortions – with the exception of pregnancies that would endanger the life of the mother or those that result from rape or incest. What the so called “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act” does is attempt to narrow the definition of rape. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology publication The Tech calls it an A frightening affront to rape survivors:

However, H.R. 3 would not only codify the Hyde Amendment, but also redefine what rape is in the eyes of the law. According to the bill, no federal funds can be used for an abortion as a result of rape or incest unless “the pregnancy occurred because the pregnant female was the subject of an act of forcible rape or, if a minor, an act of incest”.

“Forcible rape – aka Todd Akin’s “legitimate rape”. No bruises, no broken bones? Not a “legitimate rape”, no abortion for you. Statutory rape – an adult having sex with a child? Not a “legitimate rape”, no abortion for you. And note the wording “if minor, an act of incest”. Over 18 and a victim of incest – not a “legitimate rape”, no abortion for you. The Tech notes the  case of Commonwealth v. Berkowitz, in which a college sophomore went to her boyfriend’s room only to find his roommate. The defendant locked the door to keep others out, made repeated sexual advances toward her, removed her shirt and bra and fondled her while she repeatedly said, “No, no.” The defendant proceeded to undress her, move her to the bed, spread her legs apart — while the girl continued to voice her objections — and penetrate her until he ejaculated. Following the ordeal, the girl immediately rushed downstairs, found her boyfriend and called the police. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court found the rapist not guilty, because “the degree of force required to constitute rape is relative and depends on the facts and particular circumstance of the case”. In other words, the court didn’t think she fought off her rapist hard enough. Courts could interpret H.R. 3 as requiring a rapists to be convicted of “forcible rape” in order for the victim to qualify for H.R. 3′s exception for forcible rape. By the time that happened it would be far too late for an abortion.

Oh really, Jeff Flake? Always, throughout your career, you’ve said there should be exceptions for rape? Short term memory loss? Or another case of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=oInSiayyV-E#t=6s

Missouri Republican U.S. Senate Candidate Rep. Todd Akin became probably the 3rd best known Republican candidate in the country when in an interview last Sunday, after being asked why he would outlaw abortion even in the case rape he replied  “First of all, from what I understand from doctors that [pregnancy from rape] is really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” He’s been apologizing profusely every since, saying he “misspoke” in “off the cuff remarks”. That’s not good enough for the GOP establishment, who haven’t stopped calling for Akin to withdraw from the race pretty much since the words came out of his mouth. A chorus line of GOP party bosses have all called for Akin to drop out of the Missouri US Senate race. When they couldn’t force Akin out with talk, they tried money – Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS Super-PAC says it won’t spend any money for the Missouri Senate  race. For now.  A GOP official said the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) would pull the $5 million it planned to spend on the race unless Akin quit. Why? While he may have mangled the explanation of his rationale for supporting making abortion illegal under all circumstances, even in cases of rape, incest, or when a pregnancy endangers the life of the mother, that position is shared by Vice Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan, and is a “plank” in the Party’s platform – the official position of the Republican Party. No, these GOP leaders don’t disagree with Rep. Akin’s underlying position – they just worry he might lose his Senate race because he spoke too frankly about what they support. Any hope that the GOP might win control of the U.S. Senate runs right through Missouri. They care much more about that then standing up for their close friend and collegue.

I don’t believe would be Republican Senator Rep. Akin really misspoke – the extreme right anti-abortion folks have been pushing this notion that somehow a woman’s body has this magic defense mechanism to prevent pregnancy from rape from some time. It’s their defense from being accused of being heartless bastards for wanting to force a woman carry a pregnancy from a brutal rape to full term. One of the folks Rep. Akin might have got this nonsense from is radical anti-abortion activist Dr. John Wilke who, despite overwhelming actual statistical evidence to the contrary, claims the pregnancies from rape are “very rare”. Willke, president of the Life Issues Institute, wrote a book with a chapter on rape from which Akin could have easily gotten his ideas:

“Her body is upset.Every woman is aware that stress and emotional factors can alter her menstrual cycle … Hormone production is controlled by a part of the brain which is easily influenced by emotions. There’s no greater emotional trauma that can be experienced by a woman than an assault rape. This can radically upset her possibility of ovulation, fertilization, implantation and even nurturing of a pregnancy.”

That’s likely also where Rep. Akin got his notions about “legitimate rape” – only a “real rape” would produce the trauma to trigger this magic defense to thwart pregnancy. In a “not-real rape” (she just wasn’t really in the mood, drank too much, or perhaps just had a headache?), there wouldn’t be the trauma to induce the magic defense. Never heard of Dr. John Wilke? Well, Mitt Romney knows exactly who he is. In a Press Release from the Romney Campaign, Mitt Romney enthusiastically accepted Dr. Wilke’s endorsement:

Today, Dr. John Willke, a founder of the Pro Life Movement, endorsed Governor Mitt Romney and his campaign for our nation’s highest office. Dr. Willke is a leading voice within the pro-life community and will be an important surrogate for Governor Romney’s pro-life and pro-family agenda.  [...]

Welcoming Dr. Willke’s announcement, Governor Romney said, “I am proud to have the support of a man who has meant so much to the pro-life movement in our country. He knows how important it is to have someone in Washington who will actively promote pro-life policies. Policies that include more than appointing judges who will follow the law but also opposing taxpayer funded abortion and partial birth abortion. I look forward to working with Dr. Willke and welcome him to Romney for President.”

In 2007, Wilke praised Romney as the “the only candidate who can lead our pro-life and pro-family conservative movement to victory”. Mitt Romney is happy to have the support from a man who formulated what Rep. Akin claimed, that women have a magic defense from getting pregnant from a “real” rape, yet now he calls for Rep. Akin to withdraw from the race? Et tu, Brute?

Republican Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan has an especially close relationship with Rep. Akin. They’ve served together in the House for almost 12 years, and Ryan has co-sponsored many of Rep. Akin’s anti-abortion bills, including including some that make no allowance for rape.  Among the bills Ryan co-sponsored was a measure that would require a woman seeking an abortion to undergo an ultrasound first. Yes, that requirement that Virgina Republican legislators tried to pass last year – that any woman considering an abortion have her most sensitive body part be penetrated with a vagina probe, even if she had already been penetrated against her will as a victim of rape. Two bills that Ryan co-sponsored with Todd Akin last year would have restricted the definition of rape. The measures sought to prohibit federal funds from being used for abortion, except under certain conditions, with both bills as introduced using the term “forcible rape” as an exception to the funding ban. No bruises, no broken bones? No abortion for you. Yet Rep. Akin reports that his good friend Paul Ryan called him personally yesterday and “advised me that it would be good for me to step down”. Et tu, Brute?

Rep. Akin says “The people of Missouri chose me to be their candidate, and I don’t believe it’s right for party bosses to decide to override those voters”. That’s probably the one of the few areas in which I can agree with Mr. Akin. He won a hard fought primary battle just weeks ago, with Missouri’s Republican voters choosing him over two other conservative Republicans – two conservatives who stressed their fiscal conservatism, not religious conservatism that Todd Akin stressed. Republican voters chose Rep. Akin, and they deserve candidate they chose, not someone party bosses pick.

Rep. Akin also says the voters deserve a race based on the issues, and that voters deserves to know where the candidates stand on the issues. No disagreement from me there either. Mitt Romney says “Congressman Ryan and I disagree with Mr. Akin’s statement, and a Romney-Ryan administration would not oppose abortion in instances of rape”. Oh yeah? Well, you say alot of things that change over time. And your Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan was a co-sponsor of a House bill last year defining human life as beginning with fertilization and granting “personhood’’ rights to embryos, a bill which would outlaw abortions in all cases, and would also restrict some forms of birth control such as the “morning after pill”. And the platform of your party says if they gain control they would pass a Constitutional Amendment that will outlaw any and all abortion forever, even in cases of rape, incest, or if the pregnancy endangers the life of the mother. If you want us to really believe that a Romney-Ryan administration would not oppose abortion in instances of rape, then repudiate those positions. As you told Harry Reid: Put up or shut up.