Rick Santorum, Jim DeMint Endorse Todd Akin

It looks like the socially conservative wing of the GOP is circling the wagons when it comes to the Missouri Senate race: 

Now that Todd Akin is officially on the ballot as a Senate candidate in Missouri, he’s picked up two prominent endorsers.

Former GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum and prominent conservative Sen. Jim DeMint offered their backing Wednesday morning in an e-mail to supporters of Santorum’s group Patriot Voices.

The two issued a joint statement:

“If Republicans are to win back the Senate and stop President Obama’s liberal agenda, we must defeat Senator Claire McCaskill in Missouri. Her support of President Obama’s job-killing, big-spending policies are sending our country into an economic abyss. And her passionate support of ObamaCare is ensuring healthcare costs go up while quality of care goes down. Simply put, we cannot afford six more years of Senator McCaskill.

“Todd Akin is a principled conservative who is committed to winning and fighting for freedom in the U.S. Senate. Todd will work to stop reckless spending, stop the out of control debt, repeal the government takeover of healthcare, support our military and defend life at every stage.

“We support Todd Akin and hope freedom-loving Americans in Missouri and around the country will join us so we can save our country from fiscal collapse,” concluded Santorum and DeMint.”

Akin has resisted intense pressure to drop out from his Missouri’s Senate race against Sen. Claire McCaskill, since making his now-infamous “legitimate rape” comment in August. Republican leaders including Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn called on him to withdraw or reconsider his bid.

As expected, Tuesday’s 5 p.m. CT deadline expired as Akin remained in the race.

McCaskill, meanwhile, is out with her first negative ad against Akin:

This, I am sure, is only the beginning.

FILED UNDER: 2012 Election, Congress, US Politics, , , , , , , , , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. Rob in CT says:

    What are the odds the GOP takes the senate if Akin loses? Not great, right? There is a pretty strong incentive for the GOP in general to relent and back him.

  2. MBunge says:

    The people who give Karl Rove money are not fans of Akin. The social circles those folks move in are not Akin-friendly. This is as stark a conflict between MoneyCons and SocialCons as we’ve every seen.

    Mike

  3. Rick Almeida says:

    Did anyone doubt they wouldn’t?

  4. Todd Akin is a principled conservative who is committed to winning and fighting for freedom in the U.S. Senate

    Like the freedom to impregnated by rapists.

    Akin 2012: Just close your eyes and think of England.

  5. Me Me Me says:

    Well that kindly Mike Huckabee said Akin is OK despite this unfortunate distraction, so all of the other God-bothering types can join in.

  6. PJ says:

    @MBunge:
    MoneyCons want to win the Senate.
    MoneyCons will donate secretly.

  7. legion says:

    @PJ: Also – SocialCons are gutless hypocrites who will sacrifice their “principles” for the chance at enough temporal gain to force their dogma on everyone. That end is worth any means to them.

  8. bookdragon01 says:

    I hope backing Mr. ‘legitimate rape’ comes to back to bite Santorum if he ever takes another shot at national office.

  9. Me Me Me says:

    @bookdragon01: And that “nice”, “genial”, “likeable”, “Christian” Mike Huckabee – who, let us not forget, was the very person to attempt to give Akin cover.

  10. al-Ameda says:

    Former GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum and prominent conservative Sen. Jim DeMint offered their backing Wednesday morning in an e-mail to supporters of Santorum’s group Patriot Voices.

    Who could possibly be surprised by this? Santorum is Michele Bachman without the high heels, and DeMint is … DeMint.

    I have to admit, I laughed when I saw the headline for this article.