TV and radio stations drop Todd Akin ads over failure to pay

Missouri candidate for U.S. Senate Rep. Todd Akin (R)'s campaign coffers may have begun to feel the consequences of getting frozen out of his party's fundraising. Talking Points Memo is reporting that TV and radio stations are dropping Akin's ads because the campaign has failed to pay its bills.

According to St. Louis CBS affiliate KMOX, the Republican congressman's TV ad buy at the local NBC station was dropped when Akin made half of a payment for a series of spots, but failed to make a second payment. "The station says its confirmed that other stations from St. Louis to Kansas City have been put in the same position," said an article on KMOX's website.

Akin became notorious after remarks he made in an interview regarding rape and pregnancy went viral. The congressman assured KTVI Fox 2's Charles Jaco that rape and incest exemptions aren't necessary in anti-abortion legislation because in cases of "legitimate rape," a woman's body can somehow shut down conception. Republican Party officials rushed to condemn Akin's statements, in spite of the fact that the fallacious notion is part of established Republican policy.

Akin broke with his party when he was asked to drop out of the race. Party chairman Reince Priebus has said of the Republican National Committee, "We're not going to send him a penny."

Akin has been championed by evangelical christians within the GOP, including former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. He saw a brief uptick in online donations in August, but apparently, that money has been spent.

The embattled congressman is running against incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill, whose seat could make the difference between a Democratic or a Republican majority in the Senate.

A spokesman for the campaign told KMOX that the missed payments were due to a "scheduling error," and that "the final portion of their payments is coming in the mail, so to speak."