Under fire, Akin seeks help from U.S. social conservatives

Under fire from his own party for controversial comments on rape, U.S. Republican Representative Todd Akin tried to win the support of a group of leading social conservatives to help him stay in Missouri's U.S. Senate race.

Akin met members of the Council for National Policy, a coalition of conservative and evangelical leaders, on Wednesday evening in Tampa, Florida.

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, which supports Akin's Senate bid, said on MSNBC on Thursday that the meeting was a chance for members of the council to encourage the candidate before the November 6 election.

Akin's meeting was first reported by Politico, which said it was not clear whether the candidate was invited prior to making remarks last Sunday that set off a firestorm.

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney and many senior party figures have told Akin to pull out of the Missouri race because of his comment that victims of "legitimate rape" have a natural mechanism to avoid pregnancy. He has defied them.

"We're talking about someone who misspoke," Perkins said.

Akin is unlikely to attend the Republicans' national convention in Tampa next week.

A flash poll by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling on Monday had Akin leading rival Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill by 1 percentage point.

But a survey conducted on Wednesday by the Republican-leaning automated pollster Rasmussen Reports had McCaskill up by 10 points.

The Missouri race is a key to Republican hopes of winning enough seats to take control of the U.S. Senate, where Democrats have a 53-47 seat majority.

Akin has been appealing to supporters with a website bannered "Let the People Decide Not Party Bosses," asking for small contributions. "As a public servant, voters are who I answer to," he said in the appeal.

Akin's site said he had raised $100,000 by Wednesday night, and set a new goal to raise another $25,000 on Thursday. Those totals pale beside the millions of dollars from the national Republican Party and other groups Akin has lost since Sunday.