Akin Controversy Costing Romney, Obama Now Leads Missouri

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Aug 24, 2012   |   10:43AM   |   Washington, DC

The controversy over the abortion-rape comments made by Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin appear to be hurting Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

UPDATE: Akin has scheduled a press conference for 5:15 PM ET and, as multiple sources tell LifeNews, he will be announcing he will stay in the Missouri Senate race through Election Day. CNN and The Hotline have also confirmed from their sources Akin plans to stay in the race.

UPDATE 2: Todd Akin said at his press conference he would be staying in the race:

“I may not be the favorite candidate of some people within the Republican establishment, but the voters made the decision,” he said. “We’re going to be here through the November election and we’re going to be here to win. This is an election, not a selection.”

Whereas Rasmussen polling showed Romney leading pro-abortion President Barack Obama at the end of July and having Romney leading the race in the Show Me State all year, now Obama has the lead.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Missouri Voters finds President Obama with 47% support to Romney’s 46%. Three percent (3%) favor some other candidate in the race, and three percent (3%) more are undecided. At the end of July, Romney led by six percent and he has not trailed Obama in any Rasmussen poll all year.

“As the controversy over Republican Senate candidate Todd Akin’s “legitimate rape” comment continues, Mitt Romney’s lead in Missouri has vanished,” Ramussen says. “Missouri now moves from Leans Romney to a Toss-Up in the Rasmussen Reports Electoral College Projections.”

“Obama’s Democratic support in the state remains largely unchanged at 96%, and voters not affiliated with either major party still favor Romney by 20 points. But Republican support in Missouri for the party’s likely nominee has fallen from 94% in late July to 85% now,” Rasmussen continues.

In 2008, John McCain won Missouri on a slight 49.4% to 49.3% margin. Since then, Rasmussen now shows 48% of voters in the state now approve of the job Obama is doing as president, while 49% disapprove. This includes 26% who Strongly Approve versus 42% who Strongly Disapprove. Fifty-one percent (51%) have a favorable opinion of Romney, while 47% regard him unfavorably. This includes Very Favorables of 24% and Very Unfavorables of 27%.

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“As for their running mates, 44% view Vice President Joe Biden favorably, but 50% have an unfavorable opinion of him. He earns Very Favorables of 19% and Very Unfavorables of 36%,” Rasmussen notes. “Ryan is seen favorably by 50% and unfavorably 40%, with Very Favorables of 34% and Very Unfavorables of 29%.”

Meanwhile, Akin now trails pro-abortion Sen. Claire McCaskill by ten percent in Missouri’s U.S. Senate race, Rasmussen polling shows, as he has refuses called from leading Republicans and conservatives to step aside so another candidate can take his place as the U.S. Senate nominee.

The survey of 500 Likely Voters in Missouri was conducted on August 22, 2012 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.