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Paul Ryan's Criticisms of Akin Contradict His Own Efforts to Redefine Rape

As part of a GOP effort to distance itself from the offensive remarks on "legitimate" rape recently made by Rep. Todd Akin, GOP Vice President nominee Paul Ryan has joined in the pleas aimed at the Congressman to pull out of Missouri's fall Senate race. Ryan would not discuss the details of a phone call he made to his friend and anti-abortion ally, but the conversation must have been awkward. Akin was only articulating the view that there should be no exception for rape or incest that he and Ryan both attempted to legislate into law in vote after vote in Congress.

Risk of Voter Suppression Resurfaces: Wisconsin Attorney General Seeks to Reinstate Voter ID Law

Wisconsin's Republican Attorney General is fighting to get vote-suppressing laws in place for the November election, asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to reinstate the voter ID law that has been found unconstitutional by two separate state judges, despite that Court rejecting a similar request in recent months.

Dems Decide Kochs Are an Election Issue: "Patriot Majority" Launches $500K Ad Buy

Patriot Majority USA LogoA left-leaning group, Patriot Majority, has launched a $500,000 ad campaign trying to make an election issue out of conservative mega-donors David and Charles Koch, suggesting the brothers are spending big "to buy this year's elections and advance their agenda," with the goal of electing "politicians who will pass laws that benefit special interests but hurt the middle class."

Karl Rove Pulls the Purse Strings in Missouri, and Could Decide if Todd Akin Stays or Goes

Comments about "legitimate rape" and human reproduction from U.S. Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.), GOP senate candidate for Missouri, has set off a firestorm of controversy and a growing chorus of Republicans calling on him to withdraw from the race. But the decision by Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS to stop running ads in Missouri may be the most decisive call for withdrawal, and an indication of how well-funded outside groups are calling the shots in modern elections, to an even greater degree than political parties.

U.S.-Funded War in El Salvador Casts Shadow over Romney/Ryan Campaign

Amidst reports that Mitt Romney launched Bain Capital with funds from investors tied to 1980s Salvadoran death squads, his new running mate Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) is getting foreign policy briefings from a man who actively covered-up some of the worst atrocities committed by those same death squads. The GOP's vice-presidential candidate also earned his political stripes working under neoconservative Republicans who funneled billions in U.S. aid to those military hitmen. Though the war in El Salvador was just one chapter in history, Romney and Ryan's relationship with that war may provide a snapshot into their worldview.

Crossroads GPS Spins Lies in North Dakota Senate Race

Karl Rove's dark money group Crossroads GPS is telling whoppers again, this time in the hotly contested U.S. Senate race in North Dakota. The ad claims Heidi Heitkamp, the Democratic candidate running against Republican Rep. Rick Berg, purchased private planes using taxpayer dollars during her tenure as the state's Attorney General, charges Heitkamp says are "completely false." The $191,000 ad buy began airing on August 8th, but was pulled off the air by the 10th. Crossroads GPS recently aired a new version of the ad with only minor changes.

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