On the Issues: Why Akin Lost

The general consensus of the media after the election was that Todd Akin’s lost to McCaskill because of his infamous “legitimate rape” comment early on in the election. News sources such as the Washington Post state that Akin’s questionable remarks “badly damaged his political standing”₁. McCaskill’s standing in the upper chamber was particularly vulnerable going into the race. However, the “legitimate rape” comment put the odds dramatically in her favor. From the beginning it seemed like an inevitable win for a stark democrat against an extreme conservative.

Polls shut down after 3 hours as she won with 54.7 percent of the vote. Akin lost with 39.2 percent and Libertarian candidate, Jonathan Dine, got 6.1 percent₂. McCaskill clearly won by a huge margin. At some point the voters must have looked past Akin’s “legitimate rape” comment and at his other policy points. The following section will briefly summarize and compare the candidates’ beliefs and policies.

Akin:

• Against federal involvement in student loans
• Against federal involvement in the school lunch program
• Proposes to abolish the minimum wage
• Against equal pay for equal work for women
• Pro-Life, even in cases of rape or incest
• Against reductions in defense spending
• Against income tax increase for income above $250,000
• Against federal spending to promote economic growth
• Against increasing federal aid for college education
• Does not believe humans are a driving force behind climate change
• Repeals all sections of the Affordable Care Act
• Against same-sex marriage and civil unions

McCaskill: 

• Supported the Higher Education Opportunity Act and Federal Family Education Loan program, supports federal assistance in higher education
• Supports the Head Start program and No Child Left Behind
• Supports minimum wage increase
• Supports equal pay for equal work for women
• Pro-choice
• Supports reductions in defense spending
• Supports income tax increase for income above $250,000
• Support federal spending to promote economic growth
• Supports increased federal aid for college education
• Supports federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions
• Supports all sections of the Affordable Care Act
• Against same-sex marriage but for civil unions

As you go through the list you notice that both candidates have held true to their party ideologies. McCaskill is a bit more center of left while Akin is far left; therefore, voters in the middle were most likely to swing Democrat given the two options. McCaskill said herself that she is “in the middle” while Akin is “far on the fringe”₃.

At many points in the Presidential race we saw the candidates agreeing on the fundamental basis of many programs and policies. Unlike the Presidential candidates, the Missouri senator candidates held polarizing viewpoints on almost every subject. This made it a lot easier for voters to choose a candidate whose ideologies are closest to their own. Republican. I believe that it was not the “legitimate rape” comment that caused Akin’s dramatic defeat. It was the fact that Akin is overly conservative and his views are so extreme that many Republicans found it difficult to support him.  

1. Sullivan, S. (2012). Democrat Claire McCaskill defeats Republican Todd Akin in Missouri Senate race. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2012/11/06/democrat-claire-mccaskill-defeats-republican-todd-akin-in-missouri-senate-race/
2. Reese, D. (2012). Claire McCaskill legitimately shuts down Todd Akin in Missouri Senate race. The Washington Post. Retrieved from  http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/wp/2012/11/07/claire-mccaskill-legitimately-shuts-down-todd-akin-in-missouri-senate-race/
3. Sullivan, S. (2012). Claire McCaskill calls Todd Akin’s views “extremist” at first debate. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2012/09/21/claire-mccaskill-calls-todd-akins-views-extreme-at-first-debate/ 

Works Cited

Henderson, N. & Kane, P. (2012). Todd Akin rape comments prompt GOP to pull campaign funding, calls to exit race. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/with-todd-akins-rape-comments-abortion-is-back-inthe-campaign-spotlight/2012/08/20/c497bae4-eac7-11e1-a80b-9f898562d010_story.html

            Loeb, P. (2012). Missouri US Senate Race Todd Akin vs. Claire McCaskill – Nonpartisan Issue Guide. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-loeb/missouri-us-senate-race_b_2068589.html

            McCaskill, C. (2012). Issues: Education. Missouri’s Senator Claire McCaskill. Retrieved from http://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/?p=issue&id=308

            Progress Missouri. (2012). McCaskill and Nixon support minimum wage increase. Progress Missouri. Retrieved from http://progressmissouri.org/mccaskill-and-nixon-support-minimum-wage-increase

Reese, D. (2012). Claire McCaskill legitimately shuts down Todd Akin in Missouri Senate race. The Washington Post. Retrieved from  http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/wp/2012/11/07/claire-mccaskill-legitimately-shuts-down-todd-akin-in-missouri-senate-race/

            Sullivan, S. (2012). Claire McCaskill calls Todd Akin’s views “extremist” at first debate. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2012/09/21/claire-mccaskill-calls-todd-akins-views-extreme-at-first-debate/

Sullivan, S. (2012). Democrat Claire McCaskill defeats Republican Todd Akin in Missouri Senate race. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2012/11/06/democrat-claire-mccaskill-defeats-republican-todd-akin-in-missouri-senate-race/

            Terkel, A. (2012). Todd Akin Opposed to Minimum Wage, Equal Pay Laws. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/09/todd-akin-minimum-wage-equal-pay_n_1951192.html

Don't Ask McCaskill, Cause She Won't Tell.

            Democrats have a strong voting record in favor of gay marriage. York wrote about the Democrats that have separated themselves from gay rights. A gallup poll found that 65 percent of Democrats support. However, that leaves 34 percent who vote at odds with their party (2012). Claire McCaskill is one of Democrats who is distancing herself from the issue because of the ideologies of those in her state of Missouri. She has not put out a direct statement on her official Senate site. On Votesmart her stance on same-sex marriage remains “unknown”. Pennsylvania's Bob Casey, Florida's Bill Nelson and West Virginia's Joe Manchin are other Senators running for reelection who have generally ignored the topic when asked (York, 2012). They are torn between staying loyal to their party ideologies or their voter demographics.

One of the reasons that McCaskills stance on same-sex marriage was ignored was likely because of her candidate Akin. Many voters assumed that McCaskill and Akin took polarizing positions on most issues. Akin was quoted as saying that, "Anybody who knows something about the history of the human race knows that there is no civilization which has condoned homosexual marriage widely and openly that has long survived" in late August (Signorile, 2012). Akin’s strong position on the matter, painting it out to be the end of civilization, took a lot of pressure off of McCaskill to take a strong stance on either side. Of the news stories I have found about Akin’s comment about same-sex marriage, none of them mention the other candidate’s position on the matter. The stories are too focused on the controversy surrounding Akin. Once again, McCaskill has been able to sit back and allow her candidate to dig himself a hole and leave her as the default winner.  In actuality, both candidates repealed Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

McCaskills separation from same-sex marriage and other gay rights issues was a strategic move. Unlike her opponent, she did not let her emotions get the best of her on the issues. By not speaking out directly she maintained her role as the stable candidate of the two despite her silence on the issue.

Works Cited

Project Vote Smart. (2012). Senator Claire McCaskill’s Political Positions. Vote Smart. Retrieved from http://votesmart.org/candidate/political-courage-test/2109/claire-mccaskill/#.UKxA245c_dk

York, B. (2012). York: GOP sees opportunity in Dems’ support of gay marriage. The Washington Examiner Online. Retrieved from http://washingtonexaminer.com/york-gop-sees-opportunity-in-dems-support-of-gay-marriage/article/2503550#.UKwy3Y5c_dk

VoteMatch. (2012). Claire McCaskill on SenateMatch. On The Issues. Retrieved from http://www.ontheissues.org/senate/Claire_McCaskill_SenateMatch.htm