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The issues the Supreme Court likely will address over the next few decades are monumental, including same-sex marriage, polygamy, religious rights, speech rights, privacy rights, Internet restrictions and whether the government can order citizens to buy products such as health insurance.
What would happen if six or seven of the justices held the ultra-liberal ideology of Ruth Bader Ginsburg?
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- Stop Todd Akin NowWe Can't Let Akin's Extremism Make it to the Senate. Stop Him Now.www.ClaireMcCaskill.com/Stop-Akin
Phyllis Schlafly, founder of Eagle Forum and one of the most influential conservative leaders in American for decades, told WND today that prospect has prompted her to urge citizens to make phone calls in support of U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, who is challenging incumbent Democrat Sen. Claire McCaskill for a pivotal U.S. Senate seat in Missouri
“The president’s power to nominate [to the Supreme Court] is one of his most important powers,” she said. “If Obama is able to place a couple more people on the bench, they will run the country for the next 20-30 years.”
The type of people Obama wants on the high court is clear, she said.
“He doesn’t seem interested in whether they care about the Constitution and what it says. He wants people who are for abortion and have lots of empathy, whatever that is,” said Schlafly.
She said it is the Senate that has the veto power to reject inappropriate nominees to the court.
“It is very important that we have people who believe in the Constitution,” she said.
Her request is that voters contact Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus (202-863-8500) and Texas Sen. John Cornyn, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (202-675-6000).
Her appeal comes just as signs are beginning to appear that the GOP may be willing to help Akin win the critical Missouri seat.
Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., and former Sen. Rick Santorum expressed a desire to help Akin just this week. They’re the latest to stand by Akin’s side since he ran headlong into a media firestorm when he used the phrase “legitimate rape” as an awkward synonym for forcible rape.
He apologized repeatedly for the error, as well as for mentioning a controversial medical theory regarding rape and conception. He also made it clear he is remaining in the race against McCaskill and says he intends to win.
One of the first leaders to speak out on Akin’s behalf was Dr. James Dobson, whose advice about parenting, child-rearing, marriage and faith has guided millions of Americans and whose counsel on family matters has been sought by presidents.
Dobson, the founder and president of Family Talk, which produces his regular radio program, “Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk,” told WND it is “disgraceful” that the “GOP political bosses” have told Akin to drop out of his race, have withdrawn financial support and publicly maligned the congressman.
“I regret to say that Congressman Akin has been subjected to disgraceful treatment at the hands of the GOP political bosses,” Dobson said. “They have withheld funds for his campaign, even though he won the GOP primary for the Senate seat. Karl Rove and Haley Barbour have said things about his character that are untrue. Their vicious opposition could get his Democratic opponent elected in his stead. That is curious since an Akin win could give the Senate majority to the Republicans.”
Schlafly, a national leader in the conservative movement since her 1964 book “A Choice Not An Echo” stirred the nation’s conscience, played an indispensable role in the 10-year battle to defeat the pro-feminist Equal Rights Amendment. Ladies Home Journal named her one of the 100 most important women of the 20th century.
She sent an email to supporters asking for the telephone support on behalf of Akin, “one of the most honorable, principled conservatives ever to run for office.”
She encouraged voters to tell Republicans “they have an obligation to open those bank accounts so Todd Akin and Mitt Romney can carry Missouri, the bellwether state.”
She said Akin has acknowledged his mistake, and those who oppose Obama’s big-government style need to move on.
“Tell me who hasn’t made a mistake,” she said. “Most [politicians] have made statements they regret. He brought up a controversial issue, and it wasn’t necessary or appropriate. He apologized.”
She said the GOP will need every Senate seat it can get, and it would be a terrible mistake for the party to not support such a strong candidate.
Schlafly, a lawyer, has authored some 20 books and was appointed by President Reagan to the Commission on the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution. She has testified before more than 50 congressional and state legislative committees.
She recently released “No Higher Power: Obama’s War on Religious Freedom,” co-authored with George Neumayr.
DeMint’s statement this week said: “Friends, I just released this joint statement with Rick Santorum on our support for Todd Akin in Missouri. Please share! This seat is critical to winning control of the Senate.”
DeMint said that if Republicans are to win back the Senate and “stop President Obama’s liberal agenda, we must defeat Senator Claire McCaskill in Missouri.”
“Her support of President Obama’s job-killing, big-spending policies are sending our country into an economic abyss,” he said. “And her passionate support of Obamacare is ensuring healthcare costs go up while quality of care goes down.
“Simply put, we cannot afford six more years of Senator McCaskill.”
DeMint called Akin “a principled conservative who is committed to winning and fighting for freedom in the U.S. Senate.”
Dobson, one of the first to speak out on Akin’s behalf, told WND he doesn’t minimize the unfortunate impact of Akin’s misstatement about rape and noted Akin has apologized profusely for his careless words.
“However, every one of us has experienced such a moment when thoughtless comments came out wrong. I certainly have,” he said. “When conservatives make such a mistake they are rarely forgiven. The difference is that liberals typically do not apologize and are given a pass by the mainstream press.”
He continued: “Consider for example, Joe Biden’s recent gaffe about putting minorities back in chains. It is almost forgotten today, and he has not apologized. Furthermore, the vice president has not been asked to resign. Bill Clinton’s egregious sexual behavior in the Oval Office, and his committing perjury before a committee of Congress, did not prevent him from giving the keynote address at the 2012 Democratic National Convention. Who remembers the shocking disclosure of Monica Lewinsky’s stained blue dress today? Todd Akin, by contrast, will forever be plagued by having made a single verbal error, despite 16 years of honorable service in the U.S. House of Representatives. I think he deserves a little grace.”
Dobson is an author of dozens of books, including “The New Dare to Discipline,” “Love for a Lifetime,”“Life on the Edge,” “Love Must Be Tough,” “The New Strong-Willed Child,” “When God Doesn’t Make Sense,” “Bringing Up Boys,” “Marriage Under Fire,” “Bringing Up Girls” and, most recently,“Head Over Heels.”
Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich also recently endorsed Akin.
And now a new report in Politico said the the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which earlier said it wouldn’t spend another dime on Akin’s campaign, is changing its tone.
Executive director Rob Jesmer said yesterday the committee will monitor the race, and he confirmed Akin is the “far more preference candidate.”
“There is no question that for Missourians who believe we need to stop the reckless Washington spending, rein in the role of government in people’s lives, and finally focus on growing jobs that Todd Akin is a far more preferable candidate than liberal Senator Claire McCaskill,” Jesmer told Politico.
“As with every Republican Senate candidate, we hope Todd Akin wins in November and we will continue to monitor this race closely in the days ahead.”
Other Republicans also have said they support Akin, including Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., who had been given orders to try to get Akin out of the race, according to reports.
Ambassador Alan Keyes also threw his lot in with Dobson.
Keyes said Akin’s “support among voters appeared to waver in the first flush of the public’s reaction to the elitist-faction media’s anti-Akin propaganda blitz.”
However, he wrote, “Missouri’s sincerely pro-life, conservative electorate has realized what is actually fueling the drive against Akin.”
Keyes said anyone who believes “maintaining a strong, principled American conservative movement is vital to the survival of liberty” needs to “think through the implications of what the Romney/Ryan/Rove wing of the elitist faction want to do to Todd Akin.”
A report from A report from Cliff Kincaid of Accuracy in Media said that while a George Soros-funded political operation released ammunition against Akin, it was the GOP that blasted him because of his tea-party inclinations.
Kincaid talked with John Putnam, the state coordinator in Missouri for the national Tea Party Patriots organization, about the surge of vitriol against Akin.
“The first few days after the Democrats put out this distorted [abortion] comment, it was the Republican hierarchy that really acted like sharks in the water, striking this fresh meat,” Putnam told Kincaid.
Putnam said in the report that Akin had voted against several Bush administration plans and has a record of opposing “the party establishment.” He said Akin probably would be a tea-party senator in Washington if he defeats incumbent McCaskill.
“I look at the role of the tea-party senators who have come along the last couple years,” Putnam told Kincaid. “They have shifted the balance away from the more moderate Republican establishment. I have to wonder how afraid they are to elect more of these tea-party types.”
The tea party developed in advance of the 2010 congressional elections that gave control of the U.S. House to Republicans. Its loosely aligned members stand for constitutional principles, limited government, freedom and liberty.
While Akin’s poll numbers plunged with his mistake, several indicators show he now is back in the race, trailing by as little as a single point in one poll.
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