Republican Congressman Todd Akin has returned to public campaigning for the U.S. Senate with an appearance in rural northwest Missouri.Akin traveled Thursday evening to Harrison County, population roughly 8,900, to join a parade in Bethany to the grounds of the Northwest Missouri State Fair.
It was Akin's first public interaction with voters since his Aug. 19 comment in a TV interview that women's bodies have ways of averting pregnancy from what he called "legitimate rape." The comment prompted widespread backlash, with some Republicans urging him to quit the race against Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill.
In Bethany, Akin got out of a pickup truck and shook some hands before breaking into a run as the small parade sped up. A passing Jeep took him to the fairgrounds.
