According to a recent poll Rep. Todd Akin, the GOP candidate for the upcoming Missouri senatorial election, has a commanding 11-point edge over his opponent, incumbent Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill.
But McCaskill doesn’t seem to mind having Akin as an opponent, particularly after his remarks on Sunday, in which he made some ill-advised remarks about “legitimate rape” and whether abortion should be permissible in the circumstances of rape.
On Monday’s “Morning Joe” on MSNBC, McCaskill criticized Akin for his remarks, but downplayed the possibility of Akin exiting the race, saying it would be “radical” for him to withdraw after his tight contest in the Republican primary for his party’s nomination.
“First of all, it’s not my place to decide,” she said. “It is the people of Missouri and I think the people of Missouri have to make this decision. And on that note it would be radical I think to say to the voters in the Republican primary — you know they had a hotly contested three-way primary. Todd Akin won by a comfortable margin and was supported by many very strongly. I mean, he has some passionate supporters in the Republican Party.”
“I really think that for the national party to try to come in here and dictate to the Republican primary voters that they’re going to invalidate their decision, that would be pretty radical,” she continued. “I think there could be a backlash for the Republicans if they did that.”