Akin staying in: 'There is a cause here' to spread God's message

Republican Rep. Todd Akin on Tuesday again vowed not give up his bid to be a Missouri senator because he said "there is a cause" to spread a message from his "creator God."

During a radio interview with Fox News host Mike Huckabee, Akin was defiant as Republicans were calling for him to exit the race after he suggested that women who were victims of "legitimate rape" could not become pregnant.

"I want to make things absolutely clear," he told Huckabee. "And that is, we're going to continue with this race for the U.S. Senate. We've given it a lot of thought, and the first thing we thought we had to do -- we had some offended some people, we tried to respond to that and let people know that we didn't mean anybody or to take rape in any way less than very, very seriously."

"But following that, I've had a chance now to run through a primary and the [Republican] Party people said when you win the primary, we'll be with you. Well, they were with us and then I said one word in one sentence in one day and everything changed."

Akin added that the "defense of the unborn" was as important to talk about as "the Obama-McCaskill-induced crisis of jobs and the economy."

"It's also appropriate to recognize a creator God, whose blessings of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is the very source of American freedom," the Republican congressman asserted. "And that part of the message, I feel, is missing. And I think that's something that we need to encourage people and to let people remember in their hearts what it is that makes America such a great nation. And life is very much a part of that whole thing."

"And that's the reason why we're going to continue, because I believe there's a cause here and that there's a part of the message that's missing and a lot of people feel left out of the parties."

Akin has until 5 p.m. on Tuesday to step aside. After that, a court order would be required to remove his name from the ballot.

Listen to the audio below from from KSFO, broadcast Aug. 21, 2012.