Tom Smith is a Republican running for Senate in Pennsylvania. Mark Scolforo of the Associated Press interviewed him yesterday afternoon.

MARK SCOLFORO: How would you tell a daughter or a granddaughter who, God forbid, would be the victim of a rape, to keep the child against her own will? Do you have a way to explain that?

SMITH: I lived something similar to that with my own family. She chose life, and I commend her for that. She knew my views. But, fortunately for me, I didn’t have to.. she chose they way I thought. No don’t get me wrong, it wasn't rape.

SCOLFORO: Similar how?

SMITH: Uh, having a baby out of wedlock.

SCOLFORO: That’s similar to rape?

SMITH: No, no, no, but… put yourself in a father’s situation, yes. It is similar. But, back to the original, I’m pro-life, period.

Taken from here: http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/28/no-comment-necessary-rape-and-abortion/==============================

in an number of ways. It is tied up with religion, is anti-science, anti-intellectual, and seems to think the world and politics should be black-and-white with no room for compromise (to be fair, the Dems are this way to some degree as well). TxGator has tried several times to get a discussion going re: the increasingly anti-democratic nature of the GOP nominating process . . . which is disturbing, if for no other reason, because it reveals a lack of principles within the party-- principles this country should have at its very core.

If I didn't disagree with the Dems on such a fundamental level re: the role and effect of government on the economy/taxes/business, it would be a no-brainer for me to just start voting anti-GOP in an attempt to demand that party to return to sanity. That fundamental disagreement keeps me from doing so.

The GOP truly has become more and more scary to me in the last dozen years or so. It's in such bad shape that it's going to blow an election that would have been a complete cakewalk at almost any other time in US history.