In a bad sign for Todd Akin, Crossroads yanks Missouri ads
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WASHINGTON – Another ominous sign for embattled Missouri GOP Senate candidate Todd Akin: the heavyweight conservative groups American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS are pulling out of the state and halting their advertising against Akin’s opponent, Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill.
“The act speaks for itself,” Crossroads spokesman Nate Hodson said Monday.
Akin caused a furor Sunday after suggesting in a television interview that women who have experienced “legitimate rape” can biologically prevent a pregnancy.
The Republican congressman apologized Monday for “ill-conceived” remarks, but GOP leaders are already distancing themselves from his candidacy as Democrats, including President Obama, have rushed to condemn his comments.
Until Monday, the Missouri Senate race was one of the top targets of the Crossroads organizations, which together have spent $5.4 million in the state so far this cycle, largely on biting television commercials that seek to paint McCaskill as a big government-loving, tax-increasing liberal.
The most recent spot from Crossroads GPS lambasted her for voting to raise the debt limit, leading the government to borrow “billions more from countries like China” – a point emphasized with a full-screen image of the red Chinese flag.
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