Missourians Are Akin Today

And just like that, Todd Akin's campaign fails to recognize itself as a legitimate failure.

The technical deadline for being able to replace Akin on the ballot, if he dropped out, is Tuesday. But because military ballots must be sent by Saturday, the effective drop-dead date is close-of-business Friday. After that point, Akin’s name would still appear on military and overseas ballots and a replacement nominee would not.

In addition, Akin would need to get a judge’s permission to withdraw (which could pose problems on such short notice), and he would be responsible for the cost of re-printing any ballots that have already been printed — a cost that might be significant. So really at this point, there’s no reason to believe anything will change, and Republicans, after using as much leverage as they could muster, have begun accepting their fate.

“God has spoken: Todd is running,” said one Missouri Republican strategist, granted anonymity to speak candidly. “Our loins are girded.”