image from Todd Akin forgiveness ad.
The Democratic funders who put $1.5 million into helping Todd Akin win the GOP primary in Missouri have surely struck gold. Akin has become a huge albatross for the national GOP, as well as at a local level. One has to wonder if this is a single case or if this kind of cross-funding of races by opposing parties goes on more often.
The Washington Examiner writes, "Call it a wise investment in light of his recent comments: Democrats wanted Missouri Republican congressman Todd Akin to win his state's hotly contested Senate GOP primary because they believed he gave incumbent Senator Claire McCaskill her best shot at retaining her seat."
Chris Cillizza reports, in the Washington Post, that Democratic funds helped Todd Akin win the GOP primary in Missouri.
"There's a reason why Democrats spent over $1.5 million trying to help Akin win his three-way primary. He was the most conservative candidate in the field -- and the most unpredictable one. He shook up his campaign staff late last year. He recently released a head-scratching and jumbled campaign ad. And Democrats have already launched a microsite highlighting his controversial statements that won't play well with moderates. ("America has got the equivalent of the stage III cancer of socialism because the federal government is tampering in all kinds of stuff it has no business tampering in," Akin once said.)"
Cillizza's prophetically stated in his article, "Akin's tendency to chart his own path (which, on occasion, has also been the politically problematic one) suggests that Democrats might be handed new fodder for their own attack ads this fall."
Well, perhaps Cillizza was a bit UNDER-stated. He did hedge his remark by adding,
But to be clear, Akin isn't even close to being on the same level of surprise 2010 primary winners likeSharron Angle (Nev.)and Christine O'Donnell (Del.) -- two GOP Senate nominees with scant political resumes and even less political sense.Akin has won congressional campaigns, he's from the heavily populated St. Louis area and he doesn't have any characteristics that blatantly disqualify him from serving in the Senate -- particularly when running against a politically damaged incumbent like McCaskill and in a statewide political environment likely to be tipped toward Republicans.
So, we have a clear case here where the Democrats, using the abusive power of Citizens United, effectively influenced a Republican primary. It is almost inconceivable to speculate that Karl Rove and his minions and investors did not do the same thing to Democrats.
I don't have examples. Maybe you, the reader can serve some up.
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