Akin doesn't help them, obviously, but my point is it's even way beyond the vaginal probes and all the other creepy stuff that seeps out of the Leviticus Belt. It's about health care and education. The Republicans have been waddling around the globe for the last 20 years saying "if you can't harvest it or downsize it then bomb it." That appears to appeal to a certain type of insecure male. It doesn't sell to women at all. Oddly enough, women seem to care a lot more about matters of substance and don't respond to the same dog whistles a lot of we x-y chromo types do.
To me its the Iraq war and the financial collapse. GOP could always count on the reflexive belief that they, no matter the individual candidate, were the ones to protect America and manage the economy. Both of the those concepts now seem like a cruel joke. Who really believes Mittens is gonna keep the world safer than Obama? I mean, you've got to be kidding. Who also thinks borrowing money for top level tax cuts will stimulate the economy? Take those two things away and their take on social issues, which has remained largely unchanged since their heyday in the 80's, gets a lot more glaring.