Although right-wing Tea Party Republicans are rallying around U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin, his poll numbers are sliding among likely Missouri voters.
A poll released on Thursdayby Republican group Rasmussen Reports gave Claire McCaskill a 10-point lead over Akin. Before his controversial rape comments, other polls had shown him with an 11-point lead over the incumbent.
But he and his fervent right-wing followers are fighting back.
Akin, 65, has defied calls from GOP leaders, including Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, to step aside after claiming that women's bodies have natural defenses against pregnancy from “legitimate rape.” The furor resulting from that statement threw Romney’s campaign off message just days before the Republican convention. Major right-wing, third-party groups have pulled millions in campaign advertising for Akin.