Akin to Romney: Butt Out

Todd Akin remained defiant yesterday as the deadline for him to easily withdraw from the US Senate race in Missouri passed. Mitt Romney urged him to pull out of the race but Akin suggested he mind his own business, accusing the presidential candidate of raising a bigger ruckus than necessary about his controversial rape comments, Politico reports. "Why couldn’t he run his race, and I’ll run mine?" Akin said on Sean Hannity's radio show. "You misspeak one time, one place, one word, and all of a sudden you have everybody saying you endanger the entire party," he added. "Don’t you think there’s a little hyperbole going on here?"

Akin said top Republicans were assuming that his run would hurt the party nationally, "even though the polling data says I’m still ahead." The Cook Political Report moved the race from a "toss-up" to "likely Dem," despite a poll showing Akin still slightly ahead of incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill, the Hill reports. If he does decide to bow to GOP pressure, Akin can still withdraw from the race before Sept. 25 by filing a court order. If he does so before next Tuesday, he can leave the race without having to foot the bill for printing new ballots. (More Todd Akin stories.)