McCaskill Polls 10 Points Ahead of Akin, Despite His Fundraising Bump
Embattled Republican Todd Akin flogged a $100,000 fundraising windfall on Thursday, but Sen. Claire McCaskill, his incumbent opponent in the Missouri Senate race, has a much more impressive number to show off: A 10-point lead in the latest Rasmussen poll. That's a jump from her polling at the beginning of August, when the GOP-leaning Rasmussen Reports had her trailing Akin by three percentage points, and it shows that money can only take you so far. It's worth noting here that Rasmussen's methodology has been criticized as skewing its own results, which in this case could encourage Akin to drop out, per his party's wishes. (Update: For a bit more context, we'd direct you to the Democrat-affiliated Public Policy Polling, which showed Akin with a one-point lead on Monday, and Akin's internal poll Wednesday showing a dead heat with 90 percent of respondents aware of the controversy, "leading Akin to conclude he couldn't fall much further," per National Journal's Josh Kraushaar.) Even though Akin has taken in $100,000 through his new "Still Standing" website (typos and all) in the last four days, McCaskill, a Democrat, has raised some $12.5 million overall, compared to Akin's roughly $2.3 million take. And all that money still hadn't bought her a lead until Akin made his infamous comments about how women's reproductive systems don't let them get pregnant from "legitimate rape." Akin boasted about his fundraising as a message to "party bosses" who want him out of the race, but the message from at least one set of polling numbers is louder: McCaskill looks to be winning.
