Aug. 28, 2012
Several weeks ago, when there was still semi-serious talk of Ron Paul delegates placing their man in nomination by arriving in Tampa with the majority of delegates in at least five states, the GOP’s nomination roll hinted at the remote possibility of actual drama.
As it turned out, the biggest drama in Tuesday’s roll call was waiting to see what state’s delegation put Mitt Romney over the 1,144 mark needed to clinch the nomination. Even before the New Jersey delegation sealed the deal and made Romney the official 2012 Republican presidential nominee, that drama seemed more designed for a game of political Trivial Pursuit that anything that would make much of a difference in November.
So this must mean that the 2012 Republican National Convention is “all systems go” for a marvelous, majestic Mittfest, right?
Not necessarily.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a presidential candidate himself in 2008 and now the host of The Huckabee Show weekends on Fox, is scheduled to speak Wednesday evening around 9 p.m. EDT. Why should Huckabee’s speech be a potential flashpoint?
As Rachel Maddow pointed out during MSNBC’s television coverage of Tuesday’s RNC, the Huckabee speech could be very interesting because of someone most Americans hadn’t even heard of as recently as two weeks ago: Todd Akin.
Akin is a Republican representative from Missouri and Tea Party favorite who is challenging incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill. Unike Paul, an OB-GYN who delivered more than 3,000 babies before becoming involved in Libertarian and Republican politics, Akin is not exactly well-versed in anatomy and physiology. By now, most voters have heard that Akin recently said that women who are victims of “legitimate rape” have some kind of natural defense mechanism that kicks in to prevent impregnation.
Such rhetoric stems from an ideological aversion to the idea of keeping abortion legal, but it has no basis in scientific reality. Yet Paul himself used the phrase “honest rape” in an interview with CNN earlier this year, providing a clue to the political rather than scientific origins of the concept.
Most prominent Republicans, thankfully, understand that Akin is not only damaged goods politically but that his beliefs on the biological realities of rape are indefensible. Such prominent conservatives as Sean HannitySean Hannity, VP nominee Paul Ryan and even Romney himself have suggested that Akin withdraw from the race. But not Huckabee.
Instead, Huckabee – well known for his evangelical Christian religious beliefs – told hundreds of Southern Baptists that he is praying for “fire from heaven” in a Mount Carmel-type clash of G(g)ods that, presumably, will somehow lead to Akin winning a Senate seat.
While Huckabee has acknowledged that Akin may have to drop out, he is also quoted in the Aug. 24 Politico report about the conference call as comparing the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee tactics to those of “union goons” who go around “breaking people’s kneecaps” if they get out of line. Huckabee told the religious group that top-level NRSC officials had assured him they were going to be scaling back their rhetoric against Akin.
The NRSC later challenged Huckabee on his claim that he had spoken with the organization about Akin, and Huckabee later clarified that he had not direct contact with the NRSC. Huckabee blamed “news outlets” for trying to manufacture a story.
Huckabee had been scheduled to speak Monday, but precautions taken in advance of the approach of Hurricane Isaac led to the postponement of the speech. He is now scheduled to speak around 9:30 p.m. EDT Wednesday, ahead of former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Ryan’s acceptance speech will conclude Wednesday’s RNC schedule, but considering the fact that Ryan and Akin co-sponsored “personhood” legislation that could effectively lead to the outlawing of almost all abortions, the GOP VP nominee won’t have the last word on the matter. Depending on what Huckabee says, the water cooler talk on Thursday may be more about Akin than the Rommey-Ryan ticket.
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