Republican Support Returns For Akin

Political endorsements and the promise of PAC dollars have come streaming back to Representative Todd Akin, who’s challenging incumbent Senator Claire McCaskill for the U.S. Senate seat in Missouri. 

Republican leaders stampeded away from Todd Akin this summer after he said that so-called “legitimate rape” rarely caused pregnancy. They demanded he step aside.  Now that the deadline for Akin doing that has passed, the tide has changed. 

"All of a sudden," says Missouri State University's George Connor, "This race has gone full tilt."

Senator Jim DeMint, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum have all endorsed Akin recently. Connor says this is driven by one simple fact: "They all recognize that Congressman Akin is the only game in town. He's their only chance to take back this seat in the United States Senate."

Connor expects the money to follow.

Meanwhile, Senator McCaskill has sharpened her campaign against Akin, throwing his “legitimate rape” comment at him in ads, instead of sitting back to let Akin’s fellow Republicans lead the attack.