ST. LOUIS, September 26, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – It’s a long way from the approval of his own party, but Republican U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin found himself less isolated as two major national figures offered their endorsement today.
Former presidential candidate Rick Santorum, who won Missouri’s primary this year, and South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint issued a joint statement encouraging Republicans in Missouri – and nationwide – to support Akin’s candidacy.
“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,” they wrote.“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.”
Their support followed on the heels of Santorum’s former rival Newt Gingrich, who held a $500 a plate fundraiser for Akin in St. Louis on Monday.
“These endorsements are huge for our campaign, and show that real conservative leaders are stepping up, because they know how important it is that we defeat Claire McCaskill and take back the Senate,” Akin wrote in an e-mail to his backers throughout the state after their announcement.
DeMint’s backing may be more lucrative. He founded the Senate Conservatives Fund, a SuperPAC that could raise as much as $250,000 for his campaign. The fund’s website states, “Human life is precious and it must be protected. SCF candidates will stop all taxpayer funding for abortion.” Akin, a six-term congressman, is proudly pro-life.
(Click “like” if you want to end abortion!
Although polls show Akin closely trailing Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill – a seat Republicans must win to regain a majority in the Senate – major Republican fundraisers have boycotted his candidacy, including the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and Karl Rove’s super PAC American Crossroads.
Gingrich said he could understand candidates backing off “for the first 48 hours” after Akin’s controversial comments. “Now it’s stupid,” he said.
“If Republicans are to win back the Senate and stop President Obama’s liberal agenda, we must defeat Senator Claire McCaskill in Missouri,” Santorum and DeMint wrote. “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”
Akin greeted the endorsement by saying, “I am proud to have two of our country’s leading conservatives endorse me today.”
“Our country can’t afford another six years of the liberal agenda of Claire McCaskill,” he said.
He is campaigning hard around the state on a bus tour.
Claire McCaskill’s campaign responded that this “predictable influx of ‘support’ from the extreme wing of the Republican Party doesn’t change the fact that Romney and other prominent Republicans wanted him out of the race.”
The party leadership’s continued rejection of Akin seriously threatens to sabotage Republican efforts to gain its crucially needed Senate majority. However, the Akin campaign is counting on growing grassroots support from around the nation to make up for the intransigent withholding of party establishment backing.
DeMint and Santorum closed their statement by asking conservatives to make a donation to Akin’s campaign.