Good news and also breaking news. PPP has conducted a one day poll of the Senate race in Missouri and here are the results:
Todd Akin: 44 percent
Claire McCaskill: 43 percent
This according to a story just posted on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
More below fake pastry thing.
Here's an excerpt from the story in the Post-Dispatch:
A telephone poll conducted on Monday by North Carolina-based Public Policy Polling showed Akin still leading incumbent U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill by one-point, 44 to 43 percent, despite the growing controversy over his remarks that women can somehow avoid pregnancy after forced sex. PPP said it would release more details on the poll later on Monday night. The Democrat-affiliated firm said it shows little change from its previous poll before the controversy, which also had Akin leading by one percentage point.
And it's not like people haven't heard. According to the poll 75% of those polled called Akin's comments "inappropriate."
This is good news for Akin staying in the race. If this poll and the last show the same result then why would he get out?
Now, if the GOP really pulls funding that's also great news. I doubt it's true though, if the race stays close they'll be running ads trashing McCaskill even if they don't run ads supporting Akin.
Here's a PPP link even though details have yet to be posted there.
UPDATE: PPP has now posted details. Here are some important additions:
All of that is taking a toll on Akin's image. Only 24% of voters have a favorable opinion of him to 58% with a negative one. He's pretty universally disliked by Democrats (3/85) and independents (21/61) and even with Republicans (43/34) he's on only narrowly positive ground.
McCaskill is 41/53 fav/unfav as comparison. Still work for her to do. But consider this:
Akin has certainly been damaged by this whole thing- a Survey USA poll last week showed him up by 11 points in the wake of his primary victory. But he's by no means out of it- it looks like Missouri's increasing Republican lean over the last few years would give him a decent chance at victory in spite of this major controversy.
9:07 PM PT: Here's another new poll from Survey USA on this:
http://www.surveyusa.com/...
Key graph:
"54% statewide, including a majority of men and women, and a majority of those in 4 of the state's 5 regions, say Akin should quit the race and allow another Republican to run in his place. 35% say Akin should continue his bid to unseat McCaskill. A large majority, 76%, do not share Akin's views on rape and pregnancy. But it is important to note that 13% do share his views, including 16% of pro-life voters, 19% of conservatives and 24% of African Americans. Akin says that he mis-spoke. But 55% in Missouri don't buy it."