This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Nov. 30, 2012 - As soon-to-be-ex-U.S. Rep. Todd Akin prepares to leave his 12-year career in Congress within weeks, he’s also trying to shed a hefty six-figure debt from his unsuccessful Republican bid for the U.S. Senate.
That’s why, sources close to Akin say, his remaining campaign operation sent out a fundraising appeal Thursday that has, once again, attracted unwanted national attention.
It takes aim against actor/entertainer Jamie Foxx, who made a joke in a recent TV broadcast about President Barack Obama being “our lord and savior.”
Akin’s campaign email contends that such talk is offensive.
“Our Christian values are being mocked openly by Hollywood elite, the media, and the professional left,” Akin’s campaign email said. “This past weekend, a performer on a nationally televised broadcast referred to President Obama as ‘Our Lord and Savior.’ "
The email then includes a link to a video clip of Foxx’s remarks. But as of Friday afternoon, the video link had been removed from Akin's campaign website, replaced with a blank black screen.
The email adds, “Article after article has been written about a no-name filmmaker who produced a short video mocking Islam. How much do you think will be written about an Oscar winning Hollywood star mocking Christianity? Friends, I may have lost the Senate race, but I do not plan to stop speaking out about the problems facing our country, and I encourage you to do so as well!”
The email then concludes with a request for campaign donations, to help Akin pay off his remaining vendors.
Neither the congressman nor his campaign manager, son Perry Akin, were available for comment. But a source close to Akin and the campaign said it had sent out the email at the suggestion of someone with one of the firms who had done work on the campaign, and is waiting to be paid.
Akin’s final campaign-finance report is due Dec. 6 for his unsuccessful bid to oust U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., who handily won re-election – in part because of the earlier controversy over Akin’s comments about “legitimate rape.”
Akin’s final campaign-finance report is expected to show that he has a debt of several hundred thousand dollars, the source close to the campaign said. Akin, 65, is trying to get it paid off before he leaves office in early January.
The email jabbing Foxx, the source said, may have generated lots of national attention, but so far has brought in little cash.
Akin has yet to say what he plans to do next, although he has told reporters in Washington that he's thinking about writing a book. Foxx is unlikely to garner much of a mention.
