memeorandum: Piers Morgan calls Todd Akin ‘gutless little twerp’ (Manu Raju/Politico)

11:55 PM ET, August 20, 2012

Top Items:

Reports: Akin Advisers Make Preparations For Withdrawal Tomorrow — Missouri Republican Senate candidate Todd Akin's advisers are making preparations to withdraw from the race Tuesday, GOP operative Richard Grenell and RedState.com editor Erick Erickson report.

Discussion: Donklephant and Daily Kos

Alexander Burns / Politico:

Crossroads pulls out of Missouri after Akin comments — The conservative outside-spending powerhouse Crossroads GPS is pulling its ads from the Missouri Senate race, three sources confirmed to POLITICO. — The group had originally booked a new round of ads to start Wednesday but began canceling them earlier today.

Discussion: Mediaite, CNN, The Fix, ThinkProgress, Ballot Box, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, The Daily Caller, The Daily Beast, Election 2012, Hotline On Call, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The New Civil Rights Movement, AEIdeas and National Review

Robert Costa / National Review:

Romney: Akin's ‘Inexcusable’ Comment — In a phone interview this morning, Mitt Romney told National Review Online that Representative Todd Akin's recent comment on rape is “inexcusable.” — “Congressman's Akin comments on rape are insulting, inexcusable, and, frankly, wrong,” Romney said.

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Hannity to Akin: You know you could cost us the Senate, right? — Via BuzzFeed, it's important that people like Hannity, Coulter, and the boss emeritus are leaning on this guy too, not just Romney and Reince Priebus. Without pressure from all-stars on the right, he can dig in and turn it into a …

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Politico, The Lonely Conservative, Mediaite, Newsy, The PJ Tatler and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, more at Mediagazer »

National Review:

Step Aside, Todd Akin — Representative Todd Akin, the Republican nominee for Senator from Missouri, became nationally notorious yesterday for saying something stupid. In the course of explaining why he believes abortion should be illegal even when pregnancies result from rape …

Discussion: Human Events, Politico, New York Times, Scared Monkeys, Hot Air, Weekly Standard, PJ Media, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Fix, The Daily Beast, The PJ Tatler, Mediaite, Althouse and American Power

Tony Perkins / CNN:

Leading social conservatives rally to Akin's defense — Tampa, Florida (CNN) - While much of the Republican universe spent Monday condemning Missouri Senate hopeful Todd Akin for his comments about “legitimate rape” and abortion, one of the nation's most prominent conservative organizations rallied to his defense.

Discussion: Politico, BuzzFeed, Plunderbund, Daily Kos, This Just In, ThinkProgress, Pirate's Cove, The Maddow Blog, The New Republic, Erick's blog, The Hinterland Gazette, Little Green Footballs and The Reality-Based Community, more at Mediagazer »

Meredith Shiner / Roll Call:

Missouri: What Happens If Todd Akin Drops Out — (Scott J. Ferrell/CQ Roll Call File Photo) — If Rep. Todd Akin (R) does drop his Missouri Senate bid within the next 24 hours, as the GOP establishment is pressuring him to do, at least his timing will be impeccable.

Discussion: Washington Times, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, The Volokh Conspiracy, The Raw Story, National Review, Hotline On Call and The New Civil Rights Movement

Manu Raju / Politico:

Piers Morgan calls Todd Akin ‘gutless little twerp’ — An angry Piers Morgan lashed out at Todd Akin for skipping a scheduled interview on his primetime cable news show Monday night, calling him a “gutless little twerp.” — According to Morgan, Akin backed out at the last minute …

Discussion: The Hill, Talking Points Memo, The Moderate Voice, New York Magazine and Daily Kos

Pam Belluck / New York Times:

Health Experts Dismiss Assertions on Rape — Representative Todd Akin's assertion that women who are victims of “legitimate rape” rarely get pregnant provoked outrage across the political spectrum, but the views he articulated are far from new in anti-abortion circles.

Discussion: The Caucus, Hullabaloo, Associated Press, rightwingwatch.org and The Daily Beast

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Akin 44 McCaskill 43 — Missouri voters strongly disagree with the comments Todd Akin made about abortion over the weekend, but it hasn't moved the numbers a whole lot in the Senate race. Akin leads Claire McCaskill by a single point, 44-43. That's basically identical to our last poll …

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's … and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Chris Christie / CNN:

Christie says ‘I was right’ about Romney's VP pick — (CNN) - New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who was rumored to be a potential V.P. pick for Mitt Romney, gave new details Monday on the moment he learned his name would not appear on the ballot as Romney's running mate.

Discussion: Politico

CNN:

First on CNN: GOP prepares tough anti-abortion platform — Tampa, Florida (CNN) - The Republican Party is once again set to enshrine into its official platform support for “a human life amendment” to the Constitution that would outlaw abortion without making explicit exemptions for rape or incest …

Maggie Haberman / Politico:
Family Research Council head defends Akin

Discussion: CNN, Midwest Democracy, ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Stinque and rightwingwatch.org

Michelle Malkin:
The Todd Akin mess

Discussion: Power Line, ABCNEWS, American Power, Mediaite, Hot Air, Washington Examiner, Datechguy's Blog, Conservatives4Palin, The Other McCain, Wake up America, Twitchy, Election 2012 and The Raw Story

BuzzFeed:
Republican Source: Akin Moving To Withdraw [UPDATED]

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Allison Hantschel / Firedoglake:
Late Night: On Legitimacy, Or Why Akin's Comments Weren't (Just) About Rape

Discussion: CBS News and Washington Post

BuzzFeed:
Mitt Romney Said In 2007 He Would Be “Delighted” To Sign A Bill Banning All Abortions Nationally

Discussion: ThinkProgress, ABCNEWS, The Atlantic Wire, Truthdig, Washington Monthly, The Maddow Blog and The Hinterland Gazette

Kaili Joy Gray / Daily Kos:
Todd Akin clarifies he's on the same page as Paul Ryan on ‘forcible rape’

Discussion: The Other McCain, The Hill, Politico, Mediaite, Firedoglake, The Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, Shakesville, Taylor Marsh and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Rosalind S. Helderman / Election 2012:
Jim Talent won't replace Akin

Discussion: National Review, Hot Air, Washington Examiner and Conservatives4Palin

RealClearPolitics Video Log:
Hannity Urges Akin To Consider Dropping Out In Interview With Him

Discussion: American Power, Ballot Box, The Gateway Pundit and Twitchy

Pema Levy / Talking Points Memo:
'God's Little Shield': A Short History Of The False No-Pregnancy-From-Rape Theory

Discussion: Roll Call, The Daily Beast, Los Angeles Times, The Lede, Taking Note, American Prospect and Guardian

Noah Bierman / Boston Globe:
Scott Brown calls on Akin to drop out of Missouri Senate race

Discussion: CNN, First Read, Midwest Democracy, Politicker, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, New York Magazine, The PJ Tatler, The Reaction, WPRI.com Blogs, Outside the Beltway, National Review, Politico, ThinkProgress, Washington Examiner and The Gateway Pundit

Washington Post:
Todd Akin rape comments prompt GOP to pull campaign funding, calls to exit race

Discussion: CNN, Talking Points Memo, 2012 Decoded, Election 2012, News Desk, The Mahablog and The Daily Dish

James Fallows / The Atlantic Online:

As a Harvard Alum, I Apologize — Yes, I know, you could imagine many sentences that would follow that headline. But here is what I have in mind right now: A tenured professor of history at my undergraduate alma mater has written a cover story for Daily Beast/Newsweek that is so careless …

Discussion: Liberal Values, 2012 Decoded, The Daily Beast, The Reality-Based Community, New York Magazine, Firedoglake, Balloon Juice, No More Mister Nice Blog, Mother Jones, Mediaite, Noahpinion and Crooks and Liars, more at Mediagazer »

Dylan Byers / Politico:
Niall Ferguson's ridiculous defense

Discussion: The Daily Dish, The Daily Beast, Brad DeLong, The Atlantic Online, News Desk, NewsBusters.org blogs, Balloon Juice, Business Insider, Economist's View, New York Magazine and The Maddow Blog

Matthew O'Brien / The Atlantic Online:
A Full Fact-Check of Niall Ferguson's Very Bad Argument Against Obama

Discussion: A plain blog about politics, The Daily Dish, Wake up America, NewsBusters.org blogs, Prairie Weather, Instapundit and Business Insider

Aaron Blake / The Fix:

Romney grows cash advantage on Obama — Mitt Romney extended his cash edge over President Obama in July and entered the final three-plus months of the campaign with about 50 percent more in the bank than the incumbent president. — Romney led Obama in cash on hand at the end of July $185.9 million …

Discussion: Power Line, Hot Air and The Lonely Conservative

Jonathan Easley / The Hill: Obama campaign holds $123 million in cash

Reuters:
Obama campaign spent more than it raised in July

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Glenn Thrush / Politico:
POLITICO e-book: Obama campaign roiled by conflict

Discussion: CNN, nation.foxnews.com, News Desk, Business Insider, Algemeiner.com, The Lonely Conservative, The Glittering Eye, Althouse, Hot Air, Marbury, Weasel Zippers, Jammie Wearing Fools, Belmont Club, Washington Examiner, Election 2012, Right Wing News and Weekly Standard

TMZ.com:

Phyllis Diller Dead — Legendary Comic Dies at 95 — Dead at 95 — EXCLUSIVE DETAILS — Comedian Phyllis Diller — who paved the way for today's female comics — died this morning, TMZ has learned. — Sources close to Diller tell us the comedian died in her sleep at her L.A. home, surrounded by family.

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Towleroad News #gay and BLACKFIVE

Emily Schultheis / Politico:

Justice Dept. clears Virginia voter ID law — The Department of Justice has cleared Virginia's new voter ID law to take effect for the November election. — The new law — labeled a “strict non-photo identification law” by the National Conference of State Legislatures …

Discussion: CNN

Ryan J. Reilly / Talking Points Memo: Justice Department Approves Va. Voter ID Law

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Obama to media: Romney's whole campaign is based on lies — In a surprise appearance before reporters at the White House just now, Obama made a striking, if perhaps long overdue, charge: He pushed back on GOP claims he's running a dirty campaign by arguing that Romney's entire campaign is based on flat out lies.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Raw Story, The Huffington Post and The Political Carnival

Steve Benen / The Maddow Blog:
The post-truth campaign continues apace

Discussion: Washington Post, Booman Tribune and American Prospect

Rosie.com:

my heart attack — while walking in a parking lot in nyack — “can u help me? she asked again — as i walked toward her — “oh u r rosie odonnell” — yes i am — the ghost of christmas future — me - if i did not wake — there r no accidents i thought — as i braced myself and lifted her

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay, New York Magazine and Mediaite

Toby Harnden / Daily Mail:

EXCLUSIVE: Obama ‘cancelled missions to kill bin Laden THREE TIMES after getting cold feet - until Hillary Clinton stepped in’, claims explosive new book — Leading from Behind: The Reluctant President and the Advisors Who Decide for Him will be published on Tuesday

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Jammie Wearing Fools:
Book Says Obama Deferred to Valerie Jarrett Over Whether To Go After bin Laden: ‘Obama feared taking responsibility’

Discussion: Cold Fury

Alexis Levinson / The Daily Caller:

Shock poll: Obama could lose Illinois — President Barack Obama could lose his home state of Illinois in November, a new poll shows. — A poll conducted by Illinois-based pollster and political strategist Michael McKeon found Obama leading Republican Mitt Romney by 49 percent to 37 percent in Cook County, the home of Chicago.