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National Review reporter Robert Costa talks to an unnamed Mitt Romney adviser who indicates there are a lot of hard feeling between Romney’s inner circle and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie over the latter’s embrace of President Obama after Hurricane Sandy: Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, the adviser adds, is persona non grata in Romney’s inner circle. “He went out of his way to embrace the president during the final week of the campaign,” the adviser says. “It wasn’t necessary and it hurt us. Todd Akin, Richard Mourdock, and Chris Christie undermined the Republican message.” Christie, of course, had...

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...

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...

"In an interview for Revealing Politics today, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus was asked, among other things, if the party’s position on Akin would eventually change if Akin refused to step out of the race: The question is: “If he stays in, is your position eventually going to change? Are you going to have to support him? The Chairman replies “No, no. No. He could be tied. We’re not going to send him a penny.”

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...