By: DonkeyHotey

On Tuesday night, we witnessed yet another ill-timed comment about sexual assault in the face of the upcoming elections. “Even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that is something that God intended to happen,” said Richard Mourdock, Indiana’s Republican candidate for Senate.

To be honest, we’re not surprised.

While there are many issues at stake in this election, rape, contraception, and women’s rights seem to be consistently at the forefront. After Todd Akin’s comments about “legitimate” rape in August, many Americans began to ask questions about the misrepresentation of these issues in the media. But at this point, it’s time to dig deeper.

After Mourdock’s statement, both the Obama campaign and Mitt Romney wasted no time in disassociating themselves from his stance. A few days later, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spent $1.1. million on a television ad in Indiana that will target the GOP Senate candidate right up until election day.

The question is this: How did we get to a point where politicians are capitalizing on the issue of sexual assault in order to get elected?

While there are few people who would disagree that it’s an important issue to consider when voting, it’s offensive (especially to the victims) that rape is being used as a source of fundraising and public shaming.

Both Republicans and Democrats maintain that this election is about the economy and unemployment, however current undecided voters might view it differently.

Democratic strategist Tracy Sefl was spot-on when she said that

“women’s uteri have become the unfortunate mascot of this cycle.”.

What do you think? Will we ever be able to leave the issue of rape alone once and for all?