Akin would need some heavy-weights the calibre of Sarah Palin (If she’s gotten over her fierce anger toward him.), to travel the state with him and remind the folks at every stop: “Todd Akin misspoke; he acknowledged his mistake and apologized. Now, who do you want voting for you in the Senate; Akin or McCaskill?” But, that will NEVER happen. He is too toxic right now. Huckabee has gone to bat for him, but he doesn’t hold an elective office and have to face the voters. So, Akin is broke and all alone. I don’t think any politician would touch him with a 10 foot pole.
When National Journal buries a lead, man, they really bury it. A new poll from Mason-Dixon in Missouri of 625 likely voters shows what everyone already suspected — that Todd Akin had blown a five-point lead in Missouri’s US Senate race and now trails by nine, 50/41 [see update], to Claire McCaskill. But what many didn’t expect was that the crash-and-burn of Akin would not damage Mitt Romney at all. In the 9th paragraph out of ten, we find out that Romney leads Barack Obama in the critical swing state, and it’s not all that close:
McCaskill’s lead is a testament to the damage caused by Akin’s remarks. She remains less-than-popular, as slightly more voters view her unfavorably (41 percent) than favorably (39 percent). And, despite worries that Akin’s remarks could also harm the candidacy of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor leads President Obama, 50 percent to 43 percent. Obama’s favorable-unfavorable split of 38 percent-48 percent is worse than McCaskill’s.
As far as the US Senate race, it’s amazing that Akin’s still within nine points — a testament to the weakness of McCaskill. On the question of whether Akin should withdraw, a slim plurality of McCaskill voters say he shouldn’t (44/40) … but a majority of Akin’s self-described voters think he should, 50/34. Independents think he should withdraw by thirty-two points, 57/25, but 35% of them will still vote for Akin. His favorables are at -39, 17/56, and yet he’s still getting 41% of the vote. Like I said … amazing.