With Senate at stake, GOP waits on Akin’s next move, McCaskill goes on offense

The Washington Post ^ | September 9, 2012 | Rosalind S. Helderman and Jason Horowitz

[Uncle Chip]

MARYVILLE, Mo. — Three weeks after Republican Rep. Todd Akin upended the national political landscape by claiming that pregnancies rarely result from “legitimate rape,” the race for Senate in this increasingly conservative state — and in many ways the battle for control of Congress’s upper chamber — has settled into a waiting game.

A Sept. 25 deadline looms. That’s the last day Akin can petition Missouri courts to remove his name from the ballot — and comply with the near-universal calls from party leaders who think his comments have made unwinnable a seat they need for an easier path to a Senate majority.

Akin’s opponent, Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, is waiting, too — hoping that Akin remains in the race but knowing that even if he does, reelection to the Senate is far from secure in a state that has turned sharply against President Obama.

In the balance could lie the Senate.

[Ingtar]

Please do. I might be able to come up from Memphis some.

[Ingtar]

... explain as to why a Senatorial race has gone from a slam-dunk GOP pickup to a likely hold by the incumbent dem.

It likely is the same reason that a bare Romney margin turned into an Obama rout, the pollsters have an agenda.