St. Louis, MO: The following statement was released by Perry Akin, Campaign Manager for Todd Akin for Senate, in response to the Rasmussen poll released this morning:
Notice something about his campaign manager's name? That's Todd's son. And Todd Akin's wife serves as his other top advisor.
This is fairly common in local politics up to around the State House level. Once you get to the national stage it's pretty much a terrible idea. Most House races involve professional campaign teams. For a Senate race to be run by family members is a sure sign of absurdity.
At least one of the Republican calls for him to resign
used this point, saying he operates in, "an insular environment," and, "lives in a parallel universe."
As for McCaskill's polling, I'd be shocked if she got more than that 48% given that only a few days ago
she had a 53% disapproval rate. If both those numbers are accurate then she is already getting supporters who previously actively disliked the job she is doing. It does look like Akin's remarks have
galvanised Democratic support behind her while shaking his Republican supporters. Given that there is a Libertarian candidate running there is a strong chance he will lose some of those supporters for good.
And looking back at Nate Silver,
this is a good reminder of why us polling geeks love him.