GOP Preoccupied by Abortion Fuss

Thank you-know-who for letting loose the crazy talk

Republicans have been taking ground in the war on abortion for years, putting Democrats on the defensive on specifics like "partial-birth" abortion and parental rights.

But suddenly the GOP has fallen into a similar trap, bedeviled by details: rape, invasive ultrasounds and the merits of contraception.

Todd Akin's "legitimate rape" remark forced fellow Republicans to publicly explore the details of how they think about abortion — details that don't serve their broader argument and that give Democrats a chance to reframe the debate, conservatives say. That's not going away any time soon: Akin reaffirmed in a Friday press conference that he won't be dropping out of the Missouri Senate race.