Poll: Akin support drops, voters want another candidate

By ALEXANDER BURNS

08/25/2012 06:42 PM EDT

In the first credible poll to be taken after Todd Akin's comments about rape have had time to sink in, the Republican Senate candidate has lost ground by a substantial margin, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports:

U.S. Senate challenger Todd Akin's support in Missouri has plummeted since his remarks a week ago about "legitimate rape" and pregnancy, putting him 9 points behind Sen. Claire McCaskill in a race he was previously winning, according to a new Post-Dispatch/News 4 poll.

More than half of Missouri voters now view the Republican congressman unfavorably, the poll indicates, and fewer than one in five view him favorably.

Akin's fall is especially dramatic among women. They were about evenly split between Akin and McCaskill in a similar poll at the end of July, but women now oppose him by almost 20 percentage points. Even in rural areas where Akin retains the lead, his support has dropped significantly from a month ago.

The most remarkable stat in the poll may be this from the crosstabs: even voters who say they are supporting Akin think he should withdraw by a 16-point margin, 50 percent to 34 percent. That suggests there's a floor for a Republican Senate candidate in Missouri, but that conservatives in the state would rather have a different option in the race.