New Poll Weighs Impact of Akin Comments; Campaign Fires Back

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- New numbers from a Republican-leaning firm suggests trouble for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin's challenge to incumbent Democrat Sen. Claire McCaskill.

According a poll taken on Wednesday by Rasmussen Reports three days after a national controversy surrounded Akin's false comment that a female body could somehow "shut down" pregnancies in cases of "legitimate rape", McCaskill actually led Akin by 10 points.

McCaskill pulled 48 percent to Akin's 38 percent, while another 14 percent said they were either undecided or like some other candidate.

The numbers are terribly inconsistent with two polls taken earlier this week from Public Policy Polling, a Democratic firm, as well as Akin's internal numbers released to the National Journal, both of which showed Akin with a slight lead over McCaskill.

Both polls show high unfavorable ratings for Akin.

Around noon Thursday, Perry Akin, Campaign Manager for Todd Akin for Senate, released this statement:

"The fact that Claire McCaskill is only polling at 48% after 72 hours of constant negative attacks on Todd Akin shows just how weak she is. If she can't break fifty percent after a week like this, Democrats should ask Claire to step down. Todd is in this race to win; we will close this gap and win in November with the support of the grassroots in Missouri and across America."