Congressman Todd Akin, under increasing pressure to withdraw from the Missouri Senate race before tomorrow's deadline of 5 p.m CDT, tells Sean Hannity that he is staying in, and is aware of the deadline.
TPM: Akin staying in
Earlier today, Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS said that they are going to pull ads from the Missouri Senate race. . Obviously, if Akin were to drop out, I am sure that Karl Rove would restore ad funding for Missouri if Sarah Steelman or John Brunner were the party pick.
Contacted about the decision to withdraw its resources from Missouri, Crossroads spokesman Nate Hodson responded: “The act speaks for itself.”
Indeed it does. Although Todd Akin is now an anchor around Paul Ryan, and him dropping out makes things worse for Ryan since the linkage between Ryan and Akin on abortion is already there, as per
Blue Aardvark's excellent rec-listed diary on the subject.
Of course, if Todd Akin manages to withdraw from the Senate race before tomorrow at 5 p.m CDT, the Missouri Republican party would have 15 days to name their replacement candidate.
From Adam Steinburgh's blog:
If Rep. Akin does withdraw before 5PM on Tuesday, the Republicans in Missouri could nominate someone else pursuant to §115.363(3)(3). In such an event, under §115.369, the party would have two weeks and a day to pick somebody new.
My prediction if that comes to pass is that John Brunner, who can self-fund and finished 2nd in the primary would be announced this weekend.
Regardless of what happens in the next few days, let's make sure Senator Claire McCaskill has all the support she needs to win, because regardless of what happens, this will still be a tight race.
ActBlue- Claire McCaskill
Donate directly to Claire McCaskill
Volunteer for Claire McCaskill
Link to contribute to the Missouri Democratic Party
The Missouri Democratic Party link is there for those who may feel uncomfrtable about directly supporting Sen. McCaskill but still want to help Democrats fight in Missouri.
4:25 PM PT: Megan McCain on "Politics Nation" on MSNBC called for Akin to "resign immediately". I'll take that to mean she wants him to resign from Congress in addition to dropping out of the race.
And Reince Priebus, RNC Chairman, calls for Akin to withdraw, and says that "he would never say something that stupid." When CNN is linking Ryan with Akin, this is showing itself to really bad for Vulture/Vouchercare.