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Mourdock turned back to campaigning Thursday morning, holding a breakfast fundraiser west of Indianapolis with South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint. The National Republican Senatorial Committee, meanwhile, continued hitting Democrat Joe Donnelly for co-sponsoring the a bill supported by Missouri Republican Rep. Todd Akin that would have barred federal funding for abortion in cases of statutory rape and incest. Akin also is struggling to recover from his own "legitimate rape" comment, aired in August, in his challenge to Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill. But unlike Akin, Mourdock was receiving support from loyal allies and even a few national Republicans. "I don't know that I've ever in my many years in politics gotten such support, physical support, people come up and giving me hugs all day yesterday and telling me they're praying for me and my wife. We're moving forward and very confident with what the outcome will be," Mourdock told WTHR-TV in Indianapolis following his fundraiser with DeMint. The party's 2008 nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain, meanwhile walked back his request that Mourdock apologize for the comment, saying in a statement Thursday he was happy with Mourdock's explanation of what he meant. With less than two weeks until the election, the Republican damage control strategy is: no more Akins. "I think it makes a lot of sense to change the subject. As long as you're talking about this, you're losing," said Republican pollster Christine Matthews. On Thursday, Mourdock tried to reclaim the strategy he had pursued up until Tuesday: tying Donnelly to Obama. "Maybe the president ought to come out to Indiana and talk about it with Donnelly," Mourdock said in a statement emailed to the Associated Press. Mourdock's deputy campaign manager Brose McVey said the campaign planned interviews with television stations in Terre Haute, Ind. Thursday and a press event in New Albany, Ind. Friday, the southern Indiana town where he made the abortion comment during a Senate debate. "This is a very competitive race and we're not going to back down and we're confident we're going to win," McVey said Thursday.
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