Akin has month to rally funds, forces to stay in Mo. race
By Susan Davis, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON – Republican Rep. Todd Akin has one month to decide whether he has what it takes to go it alone in Missouri's Senate race after an almost complete abandonment by his party.
Missouri election law has a final Sept. 25 deadline to remove a candidate from the November ballot and allow state party committees to renominate a Republican to take on Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill.
The deadline gives Akin about four weeks to prove he can raise the money and maintain his standing in the polls for a general-election contest. Observers are skeptical that he can do either.
"If national groups are shunning him, he's not going to be raising money," said Jessica Taylor, an election analyst for the non-partisan Rothenberg Political Report. "Social conservatives are his only savior in a way, and they might be asking, 'Is he a cause worth saving?' " she said.
Akin has not maintained a strong fundraising base in his six terms in the U.S. House. After his three-way primary for the Senate nomination, he had about $500,000 in the bank — a paltry sum to run a competitive statewide contest.
more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/story/2012-08-22/akin-missouri-ballot-month-rape/57216686/1
Will he stay or will he go? I'm betting he stays right up to the deadline.
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