Politics

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

A moment ago we heard warnings that Todd Akin will lose financial support if he stays in the race. For a campaign, of course, money is like oxygen, and the presidential campaigns have set out their latest reports on how they're breathing. President Obama and Mitt Romney each have an advantage, depending on which bank account you're looking at. NPR's Peter Overby reports.

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It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep.

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And I'm David Greene.

President Obama will be out talking to voters today, with events in the battleground states of Ohio and Nevada. But by this time in an election year, a sitting president is campaigning even when he's home. The president made a surprise appearance, yesterday, in the White House briefing room. You can imagine what most of the questions were about. Here's NPR's Scott Horsley.

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm David Greene.

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And I'm Steve Inskeep.

Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin was going to face trouble no matter what. But it's Akin's fate that he also faces a deadline today.

GREENE: If he should withdraw from the U.S. Senate race by 5:00 Central Time this afternoon, it will be easy for party officials to name a replacement. And he is under pressure not to miss this opportunity.

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OK, we just heard some prominent Republicans speaking out on the Akin situation. We wanted to know how voters are feeling in Akin's state of Missouri.

Here's Tim Lloyd of St. Louis Public Radio.

TIM LLOYD, BYLINE: About a mile from where Todd Akin thanked God for a surprise primary victory on August 7th, Rheudeana Ferguson is shopping with her mom at a road side produce stand. She voted for Akin when he was an underdog in the primary, and what he said Sunday morning hasn't changed how she feels.

As the presidential election nears, Morning Edition is visiting swing counties in swing states for our series First and Main. We're listening to voters where they live — to understand what's shaping their thinking this election year. This week, we're spending time in Winnebago County, Wis.

We began our conversations in the lakeside city of Oshkosh, at a cafe on Main Street. But now, we're heading outside town to the Winnebago County Fair, where I was eager to taste Wisconsin's most famous food: cheese curds.

With women's issues front and center again in the presidential campaign, a bus tour through several swing states kicked off Monday in opposition to President Obama's views on abortion.

At the same time, the Obama campaign launched a new TV ad — aimed at some of the same voters in some of the same key states — criticizing Republican Mitt Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan, on the issue.

President Obama held an unexpected press conference Monday afternoon. The president took questions on issues ranging from Medicare to the tone of the campaign and Syria.

Republican Senate candidate Todd Akin is apologizing for comments he made yesterday about rape that touched off bi-partisan criticism and outrage. Akin, who is running for the Senate seat in Missouri held by Democrat Claire McCaskill, told a television interviewer this weekend that women's bodies are able to prevent pregnancy caused by what he termed legitimate rape. Akin now says he made a mistake, but that he wont drop out of the race. Still, republicans from Mitt Romney on down are distancing themselves from him.

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In the New Testament, the Sea of Galilee is where Jesus walked on water and calmed a mighty storm. Last August, it was where freshman Republican lawmakers went for a late night swim, one of them naked. The revels took place during a fact-finding congressional trip to Israel and the FBI ended up looking into what happened. The story was first reported by Politico and reporter Jake Sherman joins me to talk about it.

Hi, thanks for coming in.

JAKE SHERMAN: Thanks for having me.