Akin Focuses on Fundraising With Santorum, DeMint Endorsements
Missouri Republican Senate candidate Rep. Todd Akin is definitely in the race to stay as Tuesday's withdrawal deadline passed without any action on his part. He also received the endorsement of former GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum and South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, both Tea Party favorites who will be looking to rally support and fundraise for the embattled candidate.
Party leaders including the chairman of the Republican National Committee have called on Akin to step aside after his August 19 comment about "legitimate rape" and the outcry it produced from both sides of the aisle, especially some women's groups. Akin's Democratic opponent, incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill, is seeking to take advantage of the comment by airing ads on television and radio of his direct quote.
Yet in seeking to realign the party faithful with only 40 days left until election day, Akin announced the endorsement of Santorum and DeMint in his quest for both votes and much needed cash. One of the major financial sources of Akin's campaign was the National Republican Senatorial Committee who after his rape comment withdrew millions in previously committed advertising dollars. On Wednesday, they issued a statement wishing the campaign well and gave a ray of hope that some funding may find its way into Akin's campaign account.
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"Todd Akin is a principled conservative who is committed to winning and fighting for freedom in the U.S. Senate," Santorum and DeMint said in a joint statement on Wednesday. "Todd will work to stop reckless spending, stop the out of control debt, repeal the government takeover of healthcare, support our military and defend life at every stage."
But McCaskill is not letting him off the hook easy by rolling out a group known as "Republicans for Claire" which includes moderates such as Warren Erdman, a Kansas City businessman and one-time chief of staff to former GOP Sen. Kit Bond.
Nonetheless, political analysts say the Akin has to bring the Republican faithful back into the fray and paint McCaskill as an out of group spendthrift who will vote with Obama on every issue.
"For Akin, the strategy is to try to bring all the Republicans back home – to try to remind Republican voters that he's their candidate and the alternative is electing Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, that many of them don't like," Peverill Squire, a political science professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia, told The Associated Press.
Akin has repeatedly apologized since the mid-August television interview and has still maintained the support of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and women's groups who have come to his defense.
