Republicans are desperate for Todd Akin to drop out of the Missouri Senate race after his controversial comments about legitimate rape. Nearly every top Republican, including Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, have publicly called for him to quit.

This morning on ABC News, however, Mary Matalin — a well-connected GOP operative — suggested that Republicans would run a write-in candidate to defeat Akin. Matlin said that, if necessary, Republicans would “transfer the money” to Ann Wagner — a former chairwoman of the Missouri GOP who is currently running for Congress — to run as a 3rd party or write-in candidate. Watch it:

Todd Akin has said he’s absolutely committed to staying in the election until November.

Transcript:

Read more

This morning on NBC, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush delivered a pointed critique of the modern Republican party. Bush acknowledged that that the GOP “needs to change” and “reach out to a much broader audience.”

Bush insisted, however, that the problems with the Republican Party would not impact this year’s election. Watch it:

A recent NBC poll found that Romney trailed Obama among African American 94% to 0% and among Latinos 63% to 28%.