Missouri Republican Senate candidate Todd Akin has been appropriately pilloried over the past 24 hours for his amazing "legitimate rape" comments. But should we any longer be surprised? Isn't this what the Republican Party has come to?

He had not been specifically asked about blacks and he was speaking in Iowa, a state whose population is less than four percent African American and one in which -- though blacks are over-represented on government assistance rolls -- the vast majority of individuals on public assistance are white.

I understand that President Obama is very interested in appearing above the fray, avoiding partisan battles. But the current GOP is interested in nothing but partisan battles.