Does, the GOP have another Todd Akin on its hands? That’s the question some may be asking themselves after the Harrisburg Patriot-News talked to the GOP nominee for Senate in Pennsylvania, Tom Smith:
Struggling to explain his “no exceptions” abortion policy, Republican U.S. Senate nominee Tom Smith likened rape to having a child out-of-wedlock before walking back the remark Monday.
Smith was fielding reporter questions after a Pennsylvania Press Club luncheon at the Harrisburg Hilton when he was asked about Missouri Congressman and Senate candidate from Missouri Todd Akin’s remark that women can biologically prevent pregnancy in cases of “legitimate rape.”
The retired Armstrong County coal executive condemned Akin’s comment, then reflected on one of his own daughters conceiving a child out of wedlock.
“What that congressman said I do not agree with at all,” Smith said. “He should have never said anything like that.
“I lived something similar to that with my own family,” he went on to say. “She chose life and I commend her for that. She knew my views but fortunately for me … she chose the way I thought. Now don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t rape.”
Smith was then asked if his daughter’s unwed pregnancy and rape were similar. “No, no, no. Put yourself in a father’s position, yes, I mean it is similar,” he said.
The retired Armstrong County coal executive condemned Akin’s comment, then reflected on one of his own daughters conceiving a child out of wedlock.
“What that congressman said I do not agree with at all,” Smith said. “He should have never said anything like that.
“I lived something similar to that with my own family,” he went on to say. “She chose life and I commend her for that. She knew my views but fortunately for me … she chose the way I thought. Now don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t rape.”
Smith was then asked if his daughter’s unwed pregnancy and rape were similar. “No, no, no. Put yourself in a father’s position, yes, I mean it is similar,” he said.
Asked again to clarify his statement, Smith said he wasn’t comparing the two.
“No, I didn’t not say that,” Smith said. “I said I went through a situation (with a daughter). It’s very, very difficult. But do I condone rape? Absolutely not. But do I propose life, yes I do. I’m pro-life, period.
So, the clarification is what it is but, really, what would ever cause a person to try to equate an out-of-wedlock birth as a result of consensual sex and rape? Do these people not think before they speak?
Smith is essentially sacrificial lamb in Pennsylvania. The most recent poll has Senator Bob Casey leading him by some 19 points, and the RCP Average gives Casey a +14.5 advantage. This seat is staying Democratic in any case, but Smith’s dumb comments could potentially harm GOP prospects on the Presidential level in the Keystone State.
H/T: TPM
