Todd Akin

Answers to the Riverfront Times 2012 News Quiz

In January Riverfront Times published its annual "News Challenge" -- 78 multiple-choice questions testing how well readers paid attention to current events over the past twelve months. Within a week, more than 100 of you submitted your answers to us. A few weeks later a dozen readers e-mailed a simi ... More >>

Todd Akin's "Legitimate Rape" on Law & Order: SVU (Recap)

We realize that we're supposed to be impartial journalists who report news and events without bias...but holy frickin' mother of dog, that was one intense hour of television. Last night, we watched the Law & Order: SVU episode that was based around some infamous word vomit from former Representativ ... More >>

Abortion Ban Bill: John McCaherty Wants To Limit Sex Selection And Genetic Terminations

Representative John McCaherty, a Republican lawmaker, can't actually ban abortions in Missouri, because of that whole Roe v. Wade thing -- but that is not stopping him from trying his hardest to add limitations through a new bill that is sure to inspire controversy. "We can't legally...stop her fro ... More >>

The 2012 Riverfront Times News Challenge

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St. Louis Dreams Come True? Creatives Launch Crowdsourced Marketing Campaign

Try Googling 'Rally Saint Louis.' In between recent news items about a shooting at a local fast food chain and a final campaign push from Todd Akin, you'll see that a new organization seeking to market and promote St. Louis' reputation has gained an enthusiastic following. Rally Saint Louis held t ... More >>

The Cover of the November 8 Print Edition

With Akin Out, Here Are 5 Wackos to Watch in Missouri Politics

What's Daily RFT gonna do without Todd Akin in the Senate? After breathing a sigh of relief for our state's integrity, we've gotta admit we'll miss the man who has given us so much in mortifying entertainment, from "legitimate rape" to "at the heart of liberalism really is a hatred for God" to the p ... More >>

Meet Ann Wagner, the Woman Who's Taking Todd Akin's Congressional Seat

In all the excitement of Tuesday's election and yesterday's aftermath, a few things got overlooked. Yes, Todd Akin's not going to the Senate, but since House terms last only two years, as of the new year, he's going to join the ranks of the unemployed. Which leads to another question: Who's going t ... More >>

Todd Akin 2012 Riverfront Times Cover Headline Contest

When it came to putting the most fitting punctuation mark at the end of this seemingly interminable 2012 political campaign season, Riverfront Times was hardly at a loss for ideas. Trouble was, when it came to pulling the lever (so to speak), we inexplicably found ourselves, well...undecided. So w ... More >>

Kendrick Lamar's Debut is One of the Most Important Hip-Hop Albums of Our Era

Editor: Tef Poe is an artist from St. Louis City. Through powerful imagery and complicated honesty, he has earned a reputation as one of the best rappers telling the story of St. Louis, which is about much more than one place. Poe has been featured in music publications such as XXL and Urb Magazine. ... More >>

No MO Money For a Former Bellwether

Once upon a time, Missouri was the bellwether of the Presidential elections. You could always count on us to pick the winner. Remember 2008 when Barack Obama rallied beneath the Arch and even John McCain paid a few visits here? Oh, those glorious days. But then, by just .1 percent of the popular vot ... More >>

VIDEO: Makin' Akin Out of Bacon

Granted, it's the day before Election Day, so there can't possibly be much more to be said about any of the candidates, least of all U.S. Representative Todd Akin, our very own U.S. Senate hopeful, who has pretty much said everything there is to be said about Todd Akin all on his own. Still, Daily ... More >>

Newt Gingrich: "When McCaskill Says She Hates Coal, She's Saying She Hates Missourians"

We have a fresh dispatch from Bullsh*t Mountain this morning, courtesy of Newt Gingrich. The former Republican Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives is in western Missouri this week, appearing at fundraisers and rallies with Todd Akin in the final days of his campaign. In the last month of ... More >>

Akin Camp Scoops Post-Dispatch By Publishing Email From Reporter Kevin McDermott

Late yesterday afternoon, Todd Akin's campaign got ahead of a Post-Dispatch scoop by publishing emails between the campaign's spokesperson and longtime political reporter Kevin McDermott. The email from McDermott contained what appeared to be the story's first four paragraphs revealing that Akin w ... More >>

Relax, Liberals. Akin's "Dog" Comment is Not Offensive.

In slavish devotion to the "Todd-Akin-says-offensive-things" narrative, news blogs are blowing up with the comment that the Congressman made about incumbent Senator Claire McCaskill at a Springfield fundraiser on Saturday: "She goes to Washington, D.C., it's a little bit like one of t ... More >>

[VIDEO] Duggar Family Does Creepy Von Trapp Family Routine for Todd Akin

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! AAAAH! AAAH! Oh, dear, pardon us, we were just have a visceral reaction to a video of the Duggar family -- stars of the TLC show 19 Kids & Counting -- singing at a Todd Akin rally. Because if there's one thing a foundering campaign needs, it's a bunch of children of the cor ... More >>

The 53 Hardest-Rocking Ladies at the Rob Zombie/Marilyn Manson Concert

It's supernatural season, and last night, St. Louis got into the holiday spirit with the Twins of Evil Tour. Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson brought their doom, gloom, colored contacts and rock & roll to the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. We'll have more coverage later. Meanwhile, however, photographe ... More >>

An Open Fan Letter to Mitt Romney and Todd Akin

Editor: Tef Poe is an artist from St. Louis City. Through powerful imagery and complicated honesty, he has earned a reputation as one of the best rappers telling the story of St. Louis, which is about much more than one place. Poe has been featured in music publications such as XXL and Urb Magazine. ... More >>

Tea Partiers Hold Flash Mob Outside Peabody Energy; Coal Co Kicks Supporters to the Curb

If you were downtown yesterday evening you might've caught red-clad Cardinals fans headed to Busch Stadium, an especially brilliant sunset, and maybe a scant group of activists commemorating the one-year anniversary of Occupy St. Louis at Kiener Plaza. Also hard to miss was a surreal and sizable g ... More >>

YOU Can Restore Missouri's Tarnished Political Reputation: MOLLI's List Benefit Tonight

Since the bust of Rush Limbaugh went up in the state capitol, Todd Akin offered up his theories of "legitimate rape" and the legislature overrode Governor Nixon's veto of the bill that would allow employers to deny insurance coverage of birth control, Missouri has become a laughingstock among progre ... More >>

Introducing the "Illegitimate Rape" Whistle

Should have seen this coming -- after Rep. Todd Akin's incredibly stupid comments about "legitimate rape" someone has started producing "illegitimate rape" whistles. But the product has a major design flaw. As the producers say in their own promotional literature, there is no such thing as "illegit ... More >>

The Convention That Could Have Been: What if STL Had Hosted the DNC?

If life in St. Louis is better than it was four years ago, it still ain't got nothin' on the summer of 1916--the last time we hosted the Democratic National Convention. You might remember that in 2010, St. Louis was a finalist to host the convention that brought 35,000 people to Charlotte, NC this ... More >>

Rep. Todd Akin Receiving Rape Threats; Capitol Police Try to Determine if They're Legitimate

The office of Missouri Representative Todd Akin has confirmed that they have received threats directed at the senatorial candidate, his family and his staff. The capitol police and the FBI are both investigating these threats, which come in the wake of Rep. Akin's controversial and since-recanted co ... More >>

Guns Blazin' n' Insults Flyin', GOP Candidates Wrap Up "Victory Tour" in STL County

We didn't find Abby Wambach amid the stacks of GOP yard signs, but 300 or so STL-area Republicans were on hand to celebrate their slate and revel in partisan glory... however premature.

Brunner, Kinder and Martin Favored to Win GOP Primary Contests, Poll Finds

According to an automated phone poll over the weekend of nearly 600 people likely to vote in Missouri's GOP primary tomorrow, 35 percent said they'd pick John Brunner to take on incumbent Senator Claire McCaskill30 percent said they'd prefer Todd Akin25 percent went for Sarah SteelmanBrunner enjoys ... More >>

Missouri Has Two of the Seven Most Anti-LGBT Legislators; Can You Name Them?

ThinkProgress.org has issued a ranking of the most anti-LGBT legislators in the Republican party (House of Representatives division), and while Kansas Representative Tim Huelskamp claimed the top spot, Missouri is the only state to place two members of Congress on the list. You'd think the deep Sout ... More >>

Akin, Brunner and Steel Don't Know the Minimum Wage

​Todd Akin, John Brunner and Sarah Steelman, the three Republicans running for the Missouri Senate, all participated in a debate hosted by KMOX. Moderator Charlie Brennan threw 'em all for a loop when he asked them what the federal minimum wage is, and if they would vote to increase it. Brunner ad ... More >>

William Lacy Clay Shares "Most Liberal" Ranking

The public policy magazine National Journal released its annual rankings reflecting the most liberal- and conservative-voting politicians last Friday, and two Missouri lawmakers earned slots that make for interesting discussion. Rep. William Lacy Clay, who represents parts of St. Louis and north S ... More >>

State Supreme Court to Decide Whether Missouri's Redistricting Map Is Unconstitutional

​Redistricting is the straw that stirs the bitter, burning, 195-proof partisan cocktail we chug down while squeezing our noses every campaign season before waking up the morning after the election massaging our temples, cursing the gods, wondering why we keep putting ourselves through this madness ... More >>

Missouri Polls Shows Gingrich Leading, Brunner Rising, and Randles Edging Spence

​ With the presidential primary campaign circus coming to Missouri both next week (for the election that doesn't count) and next month (for the official caucus), we're likely to soon see a serious spike in the number of polls about us. Which means it's is a good time for some Horse Race talk. Publ ... More >>

Todd Akin's Campaign Staff Exodus Is the Latest Stumble Among a Limping Senate Primary Field

Will a new leader jump start Todd Akin's campaign?​The campaign manager and two other top aides recently left Todd Akin's Senate campaign team. The shake-up seems to be a product of a stumbling operation for a candidate who fumbled away his status as presumed Republican front-runner to challenge ... More >>

Net Worth of Missouri Congressional Delegation Tops $47.9 Million

​The Center for Responsive Politics recently released its report on the nation's wealthiest U.S. representatives and senators. No one from Missouri makes its Top 10 list, but that doesn't mean we don't have some worthy contenders. Turns out we actually have some of the richest -- and poorest -- po ... More >>

Missouri's GOP Senate Candidates Seek to Create Space in Ideological Cluster

Who will face off against Senator McCaskill in November 2012?​The race for the GOP U.S. Senate nomination in Missouri runs around a thin, muddy track. There isn't much elbow rooms for the candidates, three self-described conservative Republicans with no significant differences in policy positions ... More >>

(Unofficial) Senate Candidate John Brunner Could Shake Up GOP Primary

When will John Brunner officially enter the Senate race?​St. Louis businessman John Brunner's political advisor John Hancock says that Brunner will announce his candidacy for Claire McCaskill's U.S. Senate seat "soon." It seems like Brunner has been on the verge of entering the race for months n ... More >>

Todd Akin is One of Those Republicans Willing to See America Default on Debt

​Depending on which prominent economist you talk to, a failure to raise the debt ceiling by 12:00 a.m. (EST) August 2, 2011 would either be "doomsday," "calamitous," "a calamity," "serious, and we probably would be thrown into a recession," "could provoke a renewed financial crisis," or someth ... More >>

It's Already 2012 for Claire McCaskill: Attack ads circulating online and on the radio

The U.S. Government Runs on Free Snacks -- So How Does Missouri Stack Up?

image viaHow things get done in Congress. (At least in the office of Representative Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania, which sports of model of the Capitol building made from boxes of Peeps.)​In any office, no one is more likely to get visitors than the person who keeps a candy jar on his or her de ... More >>

Akin's Letter Helps Halt Same-Sex Civil Unions on Navy Bases

You should have stuck to your guns, Rear Admiral Tidd!​The Navy has reversed course on its momentous decision to allow same-sex civil unions to be performed by chaplains on bases. And it's thanks in part to Missouri's own U.S. representatives Todd Akin and Vicky Hartlzer, plus 61 of their colleagu ... More >>

Comment of the Day: Keep Government Out of Religion

Today's comment comes in response to a post today on Congressmen Todd Akin's (R - Town & Country) attempt to stop Navy chaplains from performing same-sex marriages now that the miltary's Don't Ask Don't Tell has been repealed. Reader "the REAL kitty" responds: one minute, Conservatives are all a ... More >>

Arthur Lieber: Unlikely Candidate Becomes Unlikely Author

Arthur Lieber: an unlikely candidate, and now an author​It was roughly a year ago that Arthur Lieber started getting concerned. A self-described progressive Democrat, he was no fan of Todd Akin, the conservative Republican who represents Missouri's 2nd Congressional District. And as best Lieber co ... More >>

St. Louis Suburbs Shockingly Happy, Gallup Says

Is Todd Akin your congressman? If so, you're probably pretty happy. ​The city of St. Louis may be a crime-ridden abyss. But our west-county suburbs ... whooboy, are they another story!That's latest from pollster Gallup, which (unlike those Daily Beast polls proclaiming random cities the "fattest" ... More >>

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Is Dead. How Did Our Congresspeople Vote?

​Unless you've been hiding out under a rock, you probably heard that Saturday, the Senate followed the House in voting to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." DADT, signed into law in 1993 by President Bill Clinton, was meant to be a compromise on allowing lesbian, gay and bisexual soldiers to serve in ... More >>

RNC For Life Abortion Scorecard Released

Raped? Too bad, says Schlafly.​National Congressional candidates -- including plenty in Missouri -- who think women who've been raped should be forced to carry their pregnancies to term have earned money and plaudits from heavy-hitting local conservatives. The Alton, Illinois, based Republican Nat ... More >>

BODIES Exhibit at Galleria Will Come with Warning Tag

bodiestheexhibition.comKing Solomon would be so proud. ​So, that's that. Yesterday, Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster announced his office had reached a settlement with Premier Exhibitions, the Atlanta-based company slated to install a display of plasticized human cadavers next month inside t ... More >>

Akin Turns Up Heat on Galleria, Wants Attorney General to Investigate BODIES Exhibit

Akin: Not over my their dead BODIES.​As we reported last week, U.S. Congressman Todd Akin (R - Town & Country) is, um, achin' to stop the Galleria shopping mall from hosting an exhibit of plasticized human cadavers this fall. At issue is Akin's belief that some of the human remains used in BOD ... More >>

How They Voted on Health Care: Missouri and St. Louis Area Representatives

Todd Akin: Health care reform = fightin' words.​Updated 10:00 a.m. The health care reform bill passed the House of Representatives last night with a 219 to 212 vote. No Republicans supported the measure. Thirty four Democrats also voted no, including Missouri rep Ike Skelton.The bill now heads to ... More >>

Washington Group Calls for Missouri Congressmen to Clarify Feelings for ACORN-Buster-Cum-Alleged-Felon James O'Keefe

O'Keefe posed as a pimp while visiting -- and videotaping -- at an ACORN office.​It's the political story/scandal of the week: James O'Keefe III, who pret' near took down ACORN last year after releasing his undercover videos of eyebrow-raising conversations with the organization's staffers, faces ... More >>

How St. Louis Area Congressmen Voted on Last Week's Hate Crime Bill

Matthew Shepard, a gay Wyoming college student murdered in 1998 and an inspiration for the revised hate-crimes law.​You've probably heard by now how the House of Representatives passed a measure last week that broadens the definition of a "hate crime" to include incidents committed because of the ... More >>

Erstwhile Unreal Columnist Wants Back on School Board

Filing begins tomorrow for the Elected School Board of the St. Louis Public Schools, and guess who plans to be first in line? St. Louis' evergreen political candidate, Mr. William "Bill" Haas. Although he's got degrees from Yale and Harvard, Haas has yet to join his Ivy League breth ... More >>

Exploit-the-Flag Day

Politicians will soon return to the mother of all stupid issues