Gingrich raising cash, profile for Akin Senate bid

LEE’S SUMMIT, Mo. (AP) — Shunned by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin turned Tuesday to former presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich to help draw money and attention to his quest to oust Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill.

Gingrich appeared with Akin at a pair of Kansas City area fundraisers as part of what Akin’s campaign hopes will be a $1 million advertising push in the final week of the campaign. So far, McCaskill has significantly outspent Akin on TV ads that have cast the suburban St. Louis congressman as extreme — even “scary” — because of his conservative views and a remark about “legitimate rape.”