John Cornyn: Todd Akin Unlikely To Get Any Help From NRSC

National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) reiterated on Thursday that the GOP group has "no plans" to help Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) financially in his bid for the U.S. Senate, although he did not completely close the door to the possibility.

“We have no plans to do so,” Cornyn told the Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky.

“I just think that this is not a winnable race,” he added. "We have to make tough calculations based on limited resources and where to allocate it, where it will have the best likelihood of electing a Republican senator."

After Akin made his now-infamous comments that women can prevent themselves from becoming pregnant if they are victims of a "legitimate rape," the NRSC and the conservative group American Crossroads said they would no longer financially assist Akin, in an effort to get him out of the race.

Tuesday was the deadline for Akin to withdraw. When he didn't, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and former GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum jumped in to endorse Akin and promised assistance.

But on Wednesday, when asked about whether the NRSC would help Akin now, executive director Rob Jesmer simply stressed that Akin was still preferable to his opponent Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.).

"As with every Republican Senate candidate, we hope Todd Akin wins in November, and we will continue to monitor this race closely in the days ahead," Jesmer said.

While Cornyn did not sound enthusiastic about Akin's prospects on Thursday, there's still a chance that the NRSC and other GOP-aligned groups could jump back in and help Akin out if the race tightens. Missouri was considered a key state to the GOP's prospects of wresting control of the Senate away from Democrats.

(h/t: Rachel Weiner)

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story said the Courier-Journal is in Lexington, Ky., instead of Louisville.