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Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill secured a second term in the Senate, defeating Republican challenger Todd Akin in a hard-fought contest that gained national attention over controversial remarks about rape and pregnancy.

Republican Senate candidate Todd Akin said today in Lee's Summit that he'll match his Democratic rival, Claire McCaskill, in TV ad spending in the race's final week. At a stop in Lee's Summit, Akin said he no longer will be outspent 9:1 or 10:1 as he has in recent weeks. "That ratio is going to change now," Akin said. "We have enough money to be able to do more advertising." Akin is spending Tuesday and Wednesday in the KC area in what aides said would be his final visit to the area this campaign. At noon Tuesday, Akin and former...

(CNN) - Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill's 84-year-old mother, Betty Anne Ward McCaskill, died on Monday, the senator from Missouri said in a statement on Monday. "For some time, mom's health has not been good, and our family takes comfort that she is now at rest," McCaskill wrote. "People all over the state have asked about her, and their prayers and concern have been greatly appreciated."

Based on the polls and projections below, as well as polls in other contests not listed here, the Democrats are projected to keep their majority in the Senate by a 52-48 margin. Massachusetts (D pickup) Real Clear Politics Average: Warran 48.0%, Brown 46.3% Missouri (D hold) Real Clear Politics Average: McCaskill 45.8%, Akin 43.5% Connecticut (D hold) Real Clear Politics Average: Murphy 47.0%, McMahon 42.7% Nevada (R hold) Real Clear Politics Average: Heller 45.8%, Berkley 41.0% Virginia (D hold) Real Clear Politics Average: Kaine 47.6%, Allen 45.4% Wisconsin (D hold) Real Clear Politics Average: Baldwin 48.4%, Thompson 46.0% Indiana (R...

Democratic Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill and Republican challenger Todd Akin are meeting in suburban St. Louis for their second and final scheduled debate. See link below for video. Hope this works.

Citizens United Political Victory Fund (CUPVF), the affiliated PAC of Citizens United, released a poll today conducted by Wenzel Strategies, showing Congressman Todd Akin in the lead against incumbent Senator Claire McCaskill in the Missouri United States Senate race. The poll was conducted via telephone survey of likely General Election voters from October 12-13, included 1,000 respondents, and has a 3.07% margin of error

Todd Akin is coming out with a new ad, aggressively going after Sen. Claire McCaskill for getting rich from the president's 2009 stimulus plan. The ad, shared early with POLITICO, comes amid a flurry of new activity as Republicans decide whether to support Akin now that there's no question that he'll stay in the Missouri Senate race. "Ever wonder why Claire McCaskill called the stimulus bill 'wildly successful'? The stimulus that didn't create jobs, that cost us billions. Well, now we know: The stimulus made McCaskill rich," the ad starts, adding that the stimulus sent more than $1 million to...

A French proverb declares: “What is hard to endure is sweet to recall.” I seldom agree with the French, but, as a former professional boxer, I know this to be true. In 2003 I was fighting Cuban heavyweight Roberto Valdez before thousands at Chicago’s UIC Pavilion. Valdez was big, strong and mean. I was told that, a few years earlier, he had traversed shark-infested waters, alone, on a rickety makeshift raft to enjoy freedom in the land of the free. This, of course, is the very land Barack Obama seeks to “fundamentally transform.” The American vision he shares with many...

Akin told a crowd of supporters, ” In August I was given a trust , a trust to replace a senator that had not represented Missouri or our best interests.” He added, ” I have one purpose going into November and that’s replacing Claire McCaskill.” As the deadline to withdraw from the November general election ballot passed, Missouri’s Republican party issued a statement saying it will support Akin along with all the other Republican nominees on the ballot.

Newt Gingrich will be in St. Louis on Monday fundraising for Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin, a source close to the former House speaker confirmed. >snip< “I think Todd Akin was the choice of the people in Missouri, and Todd Akin has publicly apologized,” Gingrich said. “I just think people ought to be a little cautious about saying the voters of Missouri don’t count.” Rick Tyler, one of Gingrich’s longest serving aides and former member of Gingrich’s super PAC, “Winning Our Future,” is now working on Akin’s campaign. Currently Akin is being outspent 10 to 1. One source told ABC...

Reince Priebus expressed optimism this morning that Republicans could win the senate in 2012, but warned that the party would not get behind Todd Akin, even if he refused to exit the race. “We’re not going to play in Missouri with Todd Akin, I can tell you that,” Priebus said on ABC’s This Week, adding that it remained “to be seen whether he stays in or not.” The last day Akin can legally leave the race is Tuesday.

Written off by many in his own party a mere month ago, Republican Rep. Todd Akin has been slowly rebuilding his Senate campaign after apologizing for inflammatory remarks about pregnancy and rape. Now Akin is approaching a critical week that could determine whether his re-emerging campaign can gain enough momentum to put Missouri back in the battleground column as Republicans attempt to win control of the Senate from Democrats. Tuesday is the deadline for Akin to get a court order to drop his challenge of Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill. But Akin says he won't do so. Instead, Akin plans to...

This is a little difficult but, hopefully, will work. When you see the two frozen video screens, scroll down to the second one titled "See the full debate here". When you click on the arrow in the center of the screen, the video will start but will not have sound. You must force the red bar to move right until you get to the 1.06 hour spot. By forcing the red bar to the right will turn on the sound. The 1.06 time will start the Senate debate. If you want to see all of the debates, starting with the...

In about 28 hours, the Republican Party will be, for all intents and purposes, stuck with Todd Akin. The Missouri Senate candidate has shown no signs of bowing to pressure from the national party to get out of the race after his controversial comment about “legitimate rape” turned the race on its head. And though the party initially held out hope that Akin would change his mind at some point over the past month, it now appears that ship has sailed. The technical deadline for being able to replace Akin on the ballot, if he dropped out, is Tuesday. But...

As the clock ticks down to the final deadline for Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) to withdraw from the U.S. Senate race in Missouri, other legal provisions of the state’s election law will begin to take effect, hampering efforts favored by much of the Republican establishment to force him from the race. Akin, formerly considered one of Republicans' best chances at a Senate pickup, drew ire from conservatives nationwide over comments he made about pregnancy in cases of "legitimate rape" being rare. Republicans, including Mitt Romney, asked Akin to drop out of the race, but he has persisted, despite effectively becoming...

(KTVI) – Missouri U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill and U.S. Representative Todd Akin will be squaring off in a debate Friday morning in Columbia at 10:45 am. Immediately before that, Governor Jay Nixon will face republican challenger Dave Spence in a debate. Both debates will also include libertarian candidates, Jonathan Dine for the senate, and Jim Higgins for governor. The debates are sponsored by the Missouri Press Association and will be held at the Holiday Inn Executive Center in Columbia, Mo. Friday, September 22nd. Executive Center-Columbia Mall 2200 I-70 Drive S.W Columbia , Missouri 65203

“I regret to say that Congressman Akin has been subjected to disgraceful treatment at the hands of the GOP political bosses,” Dobson said. “They have withheld funds for his campaign, even though he won the GOP primary for the Senate seat. Karl Rove and Haley Barbour have said things about his character that are untrue. Their vicious opposition could get his Democratic opponent elected in his stead. That is curious since an Akin win could give the Senate majority to the Republicans.” Read more: http://conservativebyte.com/2012/09/dobson-blasts-vicious-gop-opposition-to-akin/#ixzz26kso7vot

Rep. Todd Akin’s wife, Lulli Akin, says the Republican Party’s attempts to push her husband out of the Missouri Senate race — over his false assertion that women who are raped rarely get pregnant — are like rape itself. RELATED: Akin TV Ad Buy Canceled — For Failure To Pay Station She also believes the GOP’s abandonment is on par with the tyranny that launched the American Revolution. Akin’s wife isn’t the first one to compare Akin’s explosive rape comments, and the ensuing fallout, to rape: Bryan Fischer said the party’s treatment of the embattled candidate had made Akin “a...

He’s in a money crunch:Todd Akin’s TV ads are, reportedly, being yanked from stations across the state because his campaign isn’t paying the bills. KOMU-TV in Columbia says it received half of the payment for an ad buy, and when it didn’t get the other half, it cancelled the rest of the ads. The station says its confirmed that other stations from St. Louis to Kansas City have been put in the same position. McCaskill, meanwhile, is running positive ads about how moderate she is. I imagine the tone of the race will change markedly if Akin stays in past...

Despite widespread assertions that Missouri Republican Rep. W. Todd Akin's abortion remarks have made him a heavy underdog in the state's U.S. Senate race, a Democratic-leaning polling firm released a poll Thursday showing him in a virtual dead heat with incumbent Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill. According to the survey by Public Policy Polling, Mrs. McCaskill has support from 45 percent of likely Missouri voters compared with 44 percent for Mr. Akin...

Newt Gingrich on Thursday came to Todd Akin’s defense, calling the embattled Missouri Senate candidate “honorable” and “sincere.” Speaking to POLITICO’s Mike Allen at the Playbook Afternoon Snack event here, the former House speaker said the controversy surrounding Akin’s recent “legitimate rape” comments was a “good example of why the power structure in Washington sometimes ought to take a deep breath.” “Todd Akin made a mistake. He’s an honorable guy, he’s a sincere guy. He said something stupid. There was a firestorm,” Gingrich said.

The Family Research Council poll was conducted by Wenzel Strategies from Aug. 27 to Aug. 28, testing 829 voters for a margin of error of plus or minus 3.38 percent. The sample was 32.7 percent Democrats, 34.1 percent Republicans and 33.2 percent independents. I don’t remotely believe that Akin is winning right now, but I also don’t believe that McCaskill’s double-digit margin will survive September. Hence Reince Priebus’s conundrum. Roy Blunt also said this morning that he still thinks Akin will quit, but I’m not sure he himself quite believes it. Supposedly people are leaning on Huckabee too to get...

A new poll shows that support for Rep. Todd Akin’s (R-Mo.) Senate candidacy has sharply declined since he remarked in an interview broadcast Sunday that “legitimate rape” rarely causes pregnancy. Akin now trails Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) 50 percent to 41 percent in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch/News 4 poll, which showed him leading the Democrat by 5 points in late July...

The most remarkable stat in the poll may be this from the crosstabs: even voters who say they are supporting Akin think he should withdraw by a 16-point margin, 50 percent to 34 percent. That suggests there's a floor for a Republican Senate candidate in Missouri, but that conservatives in the state would rather have a different option in the race

Prediction: If the GOP establishment doesn’t follow Republican Rep. Todd Akin’s example with a big, fat apology – to Akin – the whole party goes down in flames come November. I don’t mean every Republican will lose, but there is great political peril in not sealing the hole in Republican armor that has opened in Missouri and instead permitting it to remain a Democratic pressure point. Further, “for the good of the country” (the mantra accompanying the party-wide chorus of pleas to Akin to drop out of his U.S. Senate race), Republicans must resume funding Akin’s viable campaign ASAP, after...

Embattled Senate candidate Todd Akin just told reporters in Chesterfield that he is staying in the Senate race against Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill. Akin repeated the kinds of statements he'd made previously to national media, asserting that he's never had the support of the Republican party establishment anyway. [...]

While Missouri is always a tough state for both parties in presidential elections, until recently Mitt Romney didn’t have much to worry about. Rasmussen’s series of polls gave him a significant-if-not-quite-comfortable six-point margin in the Show Me State … at least until Todd Akin shared his views on the legitimacy of rape claims from pregnant victims. In today’s Rasmussen poll, Romney now slightly trails Obama, 47/46: As the controversy over Republican Senate candidate Todd Akin’s “legitimate rape” comment continues, Mitt Romney’s lead in Missouri has vanished. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Missouri Voters finds President Obama with...

ST CHARLES, Missouri (Reuters) - Missouri conservatives say they are rallying around U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin despite his controversial comments about rape because they are outraged that "establishment" Republican Party leaders tried to railroad him out of the race. A backlash has set in here in Akin's suburban St. Louis congressional district, where supporters said the national party had no right to attempt to force out a duly-elected candidate. Backers described Akin as the "real deal," a politician fiercely committed to their social causes such as opposition to abortion, and to the Tea Party drive to downsize government.

ST. ROBERT, Mo.—Claire McCaskill began a sparsely attended campaign event here Thursday with this quip: "I don't know if you noticed, but my campaign has been really boring lately." The ironic line was one of the few references the Democratic senator made to the political firestorm that erupted after her opponent, U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, used the term "legitimate rape" during a TV interview Sunday. Rather than beat Mr. Akin over the head, Ms. McCaskill appears to have decided to let the wrecking ball he set in motion swing all by itself. And unlike the Republican establishment, which has called...

Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) raised over $100,000 in a fundraising push started this week after members of the GOP establishment withdrew funds from the Missouri Senate race. He announced the accomplishment in a tweet. "Thousands of people stepped up and helped us raise over $100,000! The message is clear ... voters should pick candidates, not party bosses," he tweeted

After days of ignoring Republican pleas to abandon his U.S. Senate campaign in Missouri, Rep. Todd Akin today received an even more damning message: A new Rasmussen poll shows that Akin, who held a tidy lead before making his controversial comments about rape and pregnancy, is now down 10 percentage points (48-38 percent) to incumbent Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill. Never fazed, the Akin campaign shot back with an unlikely proposal. “The fact that Claire McCaskill is only polling at 48 percent after 72 hours of constant negative attacks on Todd Akin shows just how weak she is,” Akin spokesman Perry...

Todd Akin hasn't had many high-profile supporters with him in the trenches this week, but Mike Huckabee became an important and emphatic exception Thursday afternoon, sending a message to his own supporters accusing Republican elites of trying to drum a good man out of a winnable Senate race. Here's what Huckabee said in an email to his list this afternoon: Party’s leaders have for reasons that aren't rational, left [Akin] behind on the political battlefield, wounded and bleeding, a casualty of his self-inflicted, but not intentional wound.

Rep Steve King (R-Iowa) jumped into the "legitimate rape" fray Tuesday by telling a local reporter that he doesn't personally know of any victims of statutory rape or incest who became pregnant from the attacks. The reporter asked King about a bill he put forward last year that would have barred federal Medicaid funds from going towards abortions except when the life of the mother is in danger or in the case of "forcible rape." (The current law just makes an exception for "rape," without the forcible part.) The new terminology would most likely prevent people who become pregnant from...

What a difference one TV interview can make. Embattled Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill has now jumped to a 10-point lead over her Republican challenger, Congressman Todd Akin, in Missouri’s U.S. Senate race. Most Missouri Republicans want Akin to quit the race while most Missouri Democrats want him to stay. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in the Show Me State finds McCaskill earning 48% support to Akin’s 38%. Nine percent (9%) like some other candidate in the race, and five percent (5%) are undecided.

Rasmussen will be releasing a poll this morning showing Akin costing us dearly in Missouri: McCaskill 48% Akin 38%. Time to pack it up and stop screwing us, big guy.

Around the clock, Democratic candidates, spokesmen, commercials, and the party’s foot soldiers in the news media will labor sedulously to transform the party of Lincoln and Reagan into the party of Akin. By Election Day, Akin will be more famous, ubiquitous, and inescapable than Kim Kardashian. His twisted comments on rape will be played again and again, with spooky music, scary edits, and every instrument in the campaign consultant’s tool box applied to amplify this message. By November 6, the only woman who will vote for Mitt Romney will be Ann Romney — maybe. With women (and many men) terrified...

They phoned. They wrote. They rebuked him publicly from coast to coast. They cut off funding and support. Yet Republican U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin didn’t cave. He refused to withdraw by the initial 5 p.m. Tuesday deadline, sticking with his November race against Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill. His choice means women’s health and abortion remain top issues, causing a debate the GOP had hoped to avoid. Akin, who says he misspoke when he said “legitimate rape” victims can prevent pregnancy, has a long voting record against abortion in any circumstance. Akin also is in line with U.S. Rep. Paul...

The deadline for Representative Todd Akin (R-MO) to withdraw from the Missouri Senate has passed. This has led to much wailing and gnashing of teeth amongst conservatives, myself included. Despite seemingly every prominent Republican and conservative in the country condemning his comments on rape or calling for him to exit the race, he ultimately refused. Could he still do so? Yes, through petitioning a Missouri court in what appears to be a fairly simple process. Some have suggested that the left would try to impede this process, but I'm not sure how they could. If that's the case, will he...

A physician and former president of the National Right to Life Committee, Willke was an “important surrogate” for Romney’s 2008 presidential bid. Willke is the oft-cited source of the theory that rape-related pregnancies are “rare.” The theory is sometimes used by antiabortion advocates to argue that abortion laws should not contain exceptions for pregnancies that result from rape or incest. Willke believes that trauma caused by violent rape causes a woman’s reproductive system to shut down. He presents this belief as fact in educational materials, including a book about abortion and a website called abortionfacts.com. Willke’s views – and his...

Live on Greta. "We cannot quash this opportunity in Missouri!" She's more fired up than I've seen her in awhile, looks like she's ready to get up and start throwing stuff around the studio.

August 21, 2012 Akin Blames “Lib Media” For Trying to Make Him Drop Out …(Is Mitt Romney Lib Media?) Jim Hoft Oh dear. This is seriously crazy. Todd Akin blamed the liberal media tonight for trying to make him drop out of the race.Are Mitt Romney, John Ashcroft, Sean Hannity and Mark Levin the liberal media?

Republican Representative Todd Akin resisted pressure to quit the U.S. Senate race in Missouri on Tuesday, releasing a new ad apologizing for his inflammatory remarks about rape that have reinserted controversial abortion politics into the U.S. presidential campaign.In an ad released online, Mr. Akin again apologized for his comments Sunday, when he claimed in a television interview that women could not get pregnant from “legitimate rape,” even as senior Republicans condemned his remarks and called for him to step aside in the race. “Rape is an evil act. I used the wrong words in the wrong way, and for that...

@nbcnightlynews : MT @chucktodd: Romney now officially calls on Akin to exit the race. He had been implying that, but hadn't directly said it. Now, he has

The Republican Party threw away a Senate seat in Delaware in 2010 when it nominated Christine O’Donnell for the Senate. Her comments about witchcraft made her unelectable. Now, with the balance of power in the Senate — and the fate of America — dependent on our ability to win the Senate this year, Missouri Republican candidate Todd Akin (who just narrowly won his primary with 36% of the vote in a three way race) has similarly disqualified himself with his absurd contention that pregnancy after rape is “rare” because, somehow, women’s bodies “shut it down” in cases of “legitimate rape.”...

Click on LISTEN LIVE to hear Sean interview Todd Akin

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A spokesman for Senate Republicans' campaign arm says Rep. Todd Akin is putting issues he cares about at risk by staying in the Missouri Senate race and says Akin's "misguided" campaign will get no support from the group. Akin has come under intense pressure to exit the race after saying women could prevent pregnancy in cases of "legitimate rape." But he reiterated plans Tuesday to continue his bid.

Rep. Todd Akin, facing calls to step aside from his bid to challenge Sen. Claire McCaskill, once called for his party's state house leader to resign his leadership post following a drunk driving incident, according to local news reports. Akin, who used the term "legitimate rape" to argue the false claim that women who are raped don't get pregnant, called on then Missouri House GOP leader, Mark Richardson, to quit his post in 1997. From the Columbia Tribune: Republican lawmakers interviewed yesterday said they were expecting Richardson to step aside. ``That is the logical thing, just in terms of keeping...

Rep. Todd Akin, the embattled Senate candidate who used the phrase “legitimate rape” in talking about abortion and pregnancy, said Tuesday afternoon that he would stick to his decision to remain in the race.

Via the Examiner, a golden moment from “Morning Joe” in which McCaskill walks the vanishingly fine line between being deeply offended at the thought of Akin representing Missouri and yet not so deeply offended that she’d want to see him disqualify himself immediately. If you’re depressed by all the Akin coverage today, let this thought comfort you: The Democrats worked very hard, and spent a lot of money, to make sure he was her opponent in November. They banked on him screwing up spectacularly, and now he has — so spectacularly and so soon, in fact, that this might blow...

Pressure mounted on Rep.Todd Akin to quit his Missouri Senate race today despite his repeated refusals to step down over his incendiary comments about rape. Earlier in the day, moderate Republicans campaigning in bitterly contested battle ground states called on Akin to exit the race. By late in the afternoon, conservative elements of the party, including an influential super PAC and the Tea Party Express called on him to terminate his race for the good of the party. Tea Party Express Chairman Amy Kremer said Akin's remarks that women rarely became pregnant from "legitimate rape" were "unfortunate and inappropriate" and...