Todd Akin’s last remaining national support base and pool of money may be the nation’s anti-abortion advocates. And on Tuesday he made a direct and graphic appeal for their support.
Akin’s website includes a page under the URL “still-standing” that for a time featured an image of a fetus and the message “I’m pro-life and I’m standing with Todd Akin.” After the site was noticed by Twitter, it was changed to remove the photo.
On Tuesday, Akin told Mike Huckabee’s radio show that he’s staying in the Missouri Senate race despite calls from every establishment corner of the GOP that he quit in part because he wants to carry the pro-life banner forward to November.
“This is the reason why we are going to continue,” Akin said. “I believe there is a cause here, that there is a part of the message that’s missing and a lot of people feel left out of the parties.”
Akin is opposed to abortion, even in cases of rape and incest. It was during a discussion of his strenuous opposition to abortion rights that he uttered the “legitimate rape” line that blew up the election narrative from the presidential level all the way down to Missouri.
His stance has earned him the backing of the anti-abortion establishment and many social conservatives. On Tuesday, the Family Research Council vowed to stick with Akin through the rest of the cycle.
