Why Missouri conservatives are rallying around Todd Akin

"Todd Akin is firmly grounded in his Christian beliefs," said Kenneth Williams, Republican committee chairman for Sainte Genevieve County, who said he gave $100 to Akin's campaign on Wednesday. "He's the real deal."

The Congressman's stand on fiscal issues and willingness to buck the party line -- he voted against the unpopular 2008 bank bailout and against President George W. Bush's education reform known as No Child Left Behind -- has also endeared him to the anti-establishment Tea Party movement.

"Akin has real Tea Party credentials," said Bill Hennessy, founder of the St. Louis Tea Party, who lives in Akin's district and has voted for him since 2000.

Hennessy recalled Akin was the only politician who showed up at the group's April 15, 2009 "Tax Day" rally in downtown St. Louis and adhered to an order not to do any politicking.

Akin's ability to straddle America's two main brands of conservatism - fiscal and social - enabled him to garner enough support from Christian conservatives and Tea Party adherents in the Aug. 7 Republican Senate primary to win by 6 points.

Anyone who thinks the congressman may yet exit the race does not know Akin, said John Putnam, Missouri state coordinator for the national Tea Party Patriots group and chairman of the Jasper County Republican party, who has known Akin since 1984.

Patsy Liszewski, who described herself as "just a grandma" and member of the St. Louis Tea Party Coalition, said she would prefer Akin get out of the race.

"But if he stays in I will vote for him and campaign for him because our main goal is to beat Claire McCaskill," she said.
"I support him probably even more than I did before," said Molly Nesham, a home-schooling mother who also teaches at a Christian school and likes Akin's stand on abortion. "He made a mistake and the Republican Party abandoned him."

A key question is whether Akin has so offended women that he cannot convince voters such as Paige Hoff, a self-described "Republican-leaning independent."

"What Todd Akin said was offensive and I'm not minded to vote for him," said the retail assistant as she wandered the main street of St. Louis suburb St. Charles on her day off. "There's no way I'd vote for McCaskill, so I need to see proof Akin can run a serious campaign."

Major Republican groups American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS pulled funding this week and their spokesman Nate Hodson said by email: "We do not have any plans to advertise further in Missouri as long as Todd Akin is in the race."

But University of Missouri's Dow said Republican campaign funding groups will have to decide whether to resume the money if the race is competitive by October.

"They will also have to weigh up whether they want an angry Republican in the Senate, which would be bad for the party," he said.

(Reporting by Nick Carey; Editing by Greg McCune and Lisa Shumaker)

RECOMMENDED: Are you more (or less) conservative than Mitt Romney? Take the quiz

Previous

1 | 2