Akin also apologized in a radio interview and said he plans to stay in the race. Akin: 'I am in this race to win'

Top Republicans in Washington and Missouri are abandoning Rep. Todd Akin in droves and calling on him to quit his Senate race against Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill after his explosive remarks that victims of “legitimate rape” rarely get pregnant.

Akin’s response so far: Sorry, but I'm not going anywhere.


( Also on POLITICO: 5 controversial Akin quotes)

“I’m announcing today that we’re gonna stay in,” Akin told Sean Hannity on the conservative host’s radio program Monday.

“I have a sense that we’re still a people of forgiveness. And when people make a mistake — and they’re honest about it, they say it was a mistake — I believe they’ll move on,” Akin added. “I think that there are an awful lot of people that still believe in mercy and forgiveness and God’s love. I made a single error in one sentence.”

As Akin dug in, GOP support crumbled all around him. Under Missouri law, the latest Akin could quit voluntarily and allow the party to nominate someone else is Tuesday at 5 p.m.

A GOP official told POLITICO that the National Republican Senatorial Committee will scrap $5 million in planned spending on the race if Akin refuses to drop out. NRSC officials want Akin to come to a decision on his own, “But if he stays in the race, the NRSC will be pulling out,” the official said.

“The committee has communicated to the congressman that we believe him staying in the race could put majority at risk,” the official added. “We will not be funding this race if he stays in.”

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), chairman of the NRSC, said this in a statement: “I recognize this is a difficult time for him, but over the next 24 hours, Congressman Akin should carefully consider what is best for him, his family, the Republican party, and the values that he cares about and has fought for throughout his career in public service.”

And Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the top Senate Republican whose chances of being majority leader would be greatly imperiled if the GOP loses in Missouri, called Akin’s comments “totally inexcusable” and, like Cornyn, urged him to reassess.

“What he said is just flat wrong in addition to being wildly offensive to any victim of sexual abuse,” McConnell said. “Although Representative Akin has apologized, I believe he should take time with his family to consider whether this statement will prevent him from effectively representing our party in this critical election.”

The conservative group Crossroads GPS also confirmed to POLITICO that it is pulling ads from Missouri.

( Also on POLITICO: 2012 swing state map)

Even President Barack Obama weighed in.

“The views expressed were offensive. Rape is rape,” Obama said at a press briefing Monday. “And the idea that we should be parsing and qualifying and slicing what types of rape we’re talking about doesn’t make sense to the American people. And certainly doesn’t make sense to me.”

The stand-off between Akin and the state and national Republican establishment has become a test case for just how much clout political parties and institutions still have in an era of decentralized politics and Tea Party power in the GOP. Threats from party committees about cutting off endorsements and funding would have once effectively ended the matter, but such heavy-handed tactics could be less effective at a moment in which some conservatives have flourished by taking on entrenched party forces.

Akin, a veteran politician, also surely knows that if control of the Senate depends on his race, August threats about cutting him off may matter little in October. One Republican who talked to Akin on Monday described his mood with one word: “resolute.”

But his foes still smell blood. In Missouri, one GOP source said that John Brunner, who finished second in the Republican primary this month, is positioning himself as a potential replacement if Akin gets out.

Another Missouri-based Republican said he has asked Akin backer Mike Huckabee to tell the candidate his bid is unsustainable in the wake of Akin’s comments to a St. Louis TV reporter that aired over the weekend.

“I am working aggressively to get him to quit,” said the well-connected Missouri Republican.

In an interview with TV reporter Charles Jaco, Akin was asked about his views of abortion rights, such as whether an exception should be made for cases of rape.“If it’s legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down,” Akin responded.

As a firestorm erupted overnight, Akin moved to save his candidacy. A Missouri Republican told POLITICO that the six-term congressman, hoping to stay in the race, was cutting an ad this morning in which he apologizes for the remark. In a radio interview with Huckabee Monday, Akin also apologized and said plans to stay in the race.

The controversy went far beyond the Show-Me State: Democrats tried to tie Akin to Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan as Republicans, including Romney, condemned the remarks that threatened to endanger the Republican Party’s chances of winning the Missouri Senate seat.

Romney, in an interview with National Review Online, said he has an “entirely different view” from Akin and called on the conservative House Republican and Missouri Senate candidate to “correct” his comments. And a Romney spokeswoman said Sunday night that his administration would not oppose abortion in cases of rape.

“Congressman’s Akin comments on rape are insulting, inexcusable, and, frankly, wrong,” Romney told the National Review on Monday. “Like millions of other Americans, we found them to be offensive.”

Republican Sen. Scott Brown – battling to keep his Senate seat in the Democratic state of Massachusetts – went even further and demanded that Akin withdraw as the GOP nominee.

“As a husband and father of two young women, I found Todd Akin’s comments about women and rape outrageous, inappropriate and wrong,” Brown said in a statement. “There is no place in our public discourse for this type of offensive thinking. Not only should he apologize, but I believe Rep. Akin’s statement was so far out of bounds that he should resign the nomination for U.S. Senate in Missouri.”

He was joined by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), a conservative freshman senator who called Akin’s comments “reprehensible and inexcusable” and added: “He should step aside today for the good of the nation.”

The uproar began when Akin, a six-term House lawmaker, asserted during an interview with a St. Louis-area television station, that victims of “legitimate rape” rarely get pregnant as a result of the attack. Akin added that even if a child was conceived due to the rape, he would oppose abortion because “the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child.”

Akin has backtracked on his remarks in a statement released later Sunday, which said he “misspoke” and has “deep empathy I hold for the thousands of women who are raped and abused every year.”

But that isn’t stemming the backlash from Akin’s fellow Republicans. With just four seats needed to take over Senate control – or three if Romney wins the White House – the Show Me State is a must-win for Republicans and, before Akin’s comments, considered one of the easiest pick-up opportunities for the GOP.

Trying to avoid any ricochet effect from Akin’s comments onto their own races, Republicans vying for Senate seats this year also quickly denounced the Missouri Republican’s comments.

Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg, who is challenging Montana Sen. Jon Tester in another closely-watched Senate race, was among the first to criticize Akin’s remarks, condemning them in the “strongest possible terms” in a statement Sunday.

“As a pro-life conservative, a husband, and a father of two young women, I find Representative Akin’s remarks to be offensive and reprehensible,” Rehberg said. “There is no such thing as a ‘legitimate rape.’”

George Allen, the Republican nominee in Virginia, also swiftly distanced himself from Akin.

“While Congressman Akin may have addressed his statement, like many men and women I strongly disapprove of his original comments — and the sentiments behind them,” Allen said. “Having served on a Rape Crisis Board many years ago, I saw how both physically and emotionally harmful rape is for its victims, and this is why I believe there should be an exception for rape.”

And Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) tweeted: “I oppose abortion, but exceptions must be made for rape, incest and to protect life of the mother. Cong. Akin’s comment was wrong. #azsen”

Akin was viewed as the weakest candidate in a three-way primary race against McCaskill, who is widely considered the most vulnerable Democratic incumbent running in the Senate. Believing she had the best chance of beating Akin, McCaskill promoted the Republican before the Missouri primary earlier this month in an ad that called him the “true conservative” in the race.

McCaskill, in an interview on MSNBC on Monday, called the comments a “window into Todd Akin’s mind.”

“I hope this is one of those gut check moments [for Missourians] when they say this is not somebody we want speaking for us on the floor of the United States Senate,” she said on “Morning Joe.”

McCaskill was clearly benefiting from the flap over Akin’s comments — a spokeswoman for the campaign said it has seen an “uptick” in donations, though she didn’t have specifics beyond that.

One of Akin’s primary opponents, Sarah Steelman, said on Twitter on Monday: “Todd Akin’s remarks about ‘legitimate rape’ were inexcusable, insulting and embarrassing to the GOP. #mosen

But Akin wasn’t without defenders, including some prominent social conservatives.

“This is an effort to try to direct attention away from…Claire McCaskill, who has been supportive of Planned Parenthood – an organization that’s been under investigation for criminal activity,” Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said in between meetings of the RNC platform committee.

Perkins lashed out at Brown of Massachusetts for saying Akin should get out of the race.

“He should be careful because based on some of his statements there may be calls for him to get out of his race,” he said of Brown. “He has been off the reservation on a number of Republican issues, conservative issues I should say. His support among conservatives is very shallow.”

Connie Mackey, the president of FRC Action PAC, said Republicans trying to pressure Akin out of the race lack “backbone.”

“We feel this is a case of gotcha politics,” she said. “We know who Todd Akin is because we’ve worked with him up on the Hill. He’s a defender of life. He’s a defender of families. This is just a controversy built up, it looks as though, to support his opposition. Claire McCaskill on the other hand has supported Planned Parenthood all these years…Todd Akin is getting a very bad break here. We support him fully and completely.”

Mackey added that she’s not agreeing or disagreeing with his statement.

“I know nothing about the science or the legal implications of his statement,” she said. “I do know politics, and I know gotcha politics when I see it.”

James Hohmann and Alexander Burns contributed to this report.