This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Oct. 22, 2012 - Republican U.S. Senate nominee Todd Akin, who has tried for months to shift attention away from his “legitimate rape’’ comment, is once again attracting national attention because of his words.
This time, it’s his comparison of U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., to a dog.
On Monday, both camps lobbed even more attacks, as Akin double-downed on accusations about McCaskill's husband and McCaskill's campaign highlighted Akin's 1987 arrest during an anti-abortion protest.
But first, the dog.
At a Saturday campaign event in Springfield, Mo., Akin -- joined by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee -- launched into a familiar attack of McCaskill’s first-term record as one too closely tied to President Barack Obama.
But Akin chose a new analogy.
“She goes to Washington, D.C., it’s a little bit like one of those dogs, ‘fetch,’” Akin said, in remarks recorded by blogger Eli Yokley, who posted them on his PoliticMo web site. “She goes to Washington, D.C., and gets all of these taxes and red tape and bureaucracy and executive orders and agencies and brings all of this stuff and dumps it on us in Missouri.”
Akin then went on: “It seems to me that she’s got it just backward. What we should be doing is taking the common sense we see in Missouri and taking that to Washington, D.C., and blessing them with more solutions instead of more problems.”
By Sunday, Akin’s “dog’’ comparison had attracted attention in several Washington publications – making it a likely bet that his words will be seen by some national Republican leaders whom he has been criticizing because of their reluctance to help his campaign financially.
(Their reluctance stems from his Aug. 19 comments to KTVI’s Charles Jaco that victims of “legitimate rape’’ rarely get pregnant because “the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down." Akin has since apologized amid medical evidence that he was wrong.)
McCaskill has yet to remark on his latest statement, but on Sunday her campaign circulated his “dog” comments – with tons of links to news stories about them.
(Update) The topic came up briefly during McCaskill's campaign stop Monday morning in Festus. McCaskill told reporters that she was mystified about Akin's dog reference.
But she also told applauding supporters that her campaign has "a very complicated strategy over the next two weeks: Keep Todd Akin talking."
One McCaskill supporter, Bill Lee, took off his suit jacket to display a suit emblazoned with a picture of McCaskill and the phrase "No dog in a manger."
Lee explained that's a rural term referring to a dog that doesn't eat hay but prevents other animals from getting to it. (End update)
Akin has made personal observations about McCaskill before. After their Sept. 21 forum, Akin told news outlets that she was less “ladylike’’ than she had been in earlier campaigns.
McCaskill hasn’t said much about that statement either. But at a St. Louis labor rally last Tuesday, she walked to the podium to the strains of the classic Tom Jones’ hit, “She’s a Lady.”
Could that indicate that McCaskill may soon be on the prowl for tunes about canines?
Akin, meanwhile, may find himself back in the national GOP’s dog house.
Campaigns exchange additional personal attacks
(Update) Akin's consultant Rick Tyler ignited more controversy on Monday when he fired off a Tweet that used a coarser phrase in reference to McCaskill. (Tyler tweeted "If Claire McCaskill were a dog, she'd be a 'Bullshitsu'.") The tweet was picked up by the national website Talking Points Memo.
McCaskill's campaign said in a statement, "Once again, Akin's campaign has engaged in the kind of rhetoric that offends women and anyone else with a sense of decency..."
Akin spokesman Ryan Hite said the tweet was "simply a joke."
Akin made a similar point Monday to radio host Don Marsh, with St. Louis Public Radio. The congressman said that he was simply using the dog reference to point out his differences with McCaskill on economic issues.
Akin reaffirmed his assertion that the focus on his comments was "a distraction'' to deflect the public's attention from more serious issues, such as the economy and energy.
But Akin and his campaign also have veered off that course, by firing off on Monday a second news release that focuses on unsubstantiated allegations made by Craig Woods, a former employee of McCaskill's husband, Joseph Shepard. Woods told the conservative Daily Caller, in an interview now being promoted by conservatives, that Shepard had improperly used the Senate dining room to make business deals.
McCaskill told reporters last Thursday, after her debate with Akin, that the allegation was untrue and outrageous.
Akin fired off a statement Monday calling on McCaskill to provide more details about Shepard's businesses and Woods' allegations.
McCaskill's campaign replied, "Craig Woods is a twice-convicted felon and a disgruntled former employee who lied repeatedly to Claire’s husband about his criminal past of fraud and embezzlement. There is absolutely no merit to these claims. It is shocking that Todd Akin would pin the hopes of his campaign on a twice-convicted felon and a proven liar, but I guess Todd Akin is incredibly desperate at this point. This is a despicable new low, especially for Todd Akin, and he should be ashamed of himself."
Monday morning at a campaign event in Festus, McCaskill said that Akin's continued attacks against her husband's business dealings follow a familiar GOP pattern in the fall, right before elections.
"The leaves turn and they unfairly attack my husband,'' she said.
McCaskill's campaign also countered by emailing copies of an article by the progressive website Rightwing Watch, that offers up details of Akin's arrest in 1987 -- before he was an elected official -- during an anti-abortion protest.
Akin has made reference to the arrest in at least one campaign appearance but has declined to comment further. His campaign spokesman reaffirmed Monday that the congressman viewed any attention to the episode as yet another distraction. (End of update)
