Business Insider has the update from Todd Akin’s appearance on Mike Huckabee’s radio show, which Huckabee had teased with this tweet:

Todd Akin will return to The Mike Huckabee Radio Show in the next 30 minutes to announce his final decision on if he's staying in the race.

— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) August 21, 2012

The decision?

UPDATE: “Akin: We are going to continue with this race for U.S. Senate.”

Needless to say, we still have more than four hours to go before that becomes final.  Meanwhile, Akin says he’s staying  in the race because, well, he won the nomination:

Rep. @ToddAkin tells the Huckabee Radio Show he is staying in the race. "I won the primary."

— Jared Halpern (@JaredHalpern) August 21, 2012

The statement comes as even more pressure drops on Akin to get out.  The last five Republican Senators from Missouri have now all asked Akin to vamoose:

U.S. Senator Roy Blunt called U.S. Representative Todd Akin’s recent statements “totally unacceptable” and issued the following joint statement together with former Missouri U.S. Senators John Ashcroft, Kit Bond, John Danforth, and Jim Talent calling for Akin to step aside:

“We do not believe it serves the national interest for Congressman Todd Akin to stay in this race. The issues at stake are too big, and this election is simply too important. The right decision is to step aside.”

Well, Groucho Marx once said that he’d never want to join any club that would have him as a member.

Politico hears that Talent has absolutely refused to run in Akin’s place, but that Ashcroft might be another option.  Meanwhile at The Corner, they’re hearing about a potentially face-saving swap that would allow Akin to run again in his current Congressional district:

“The buzz today is there is a last-ditch effort underway involving a swap with Ann Wagner,” the consultant writes. “Wagner is the nominee for Akin’s old congressional district and has long standing connections with many on the state committee given her deep involvement in the Party on the state and national levels. This allows a woman to replace Akin, which almost all agree is the wisest choice and gives Akin an opportunity to stay in public office by running for re-election.”

That might not be a total palliative for the state GOP, but it would limit the potential damage to one House seat rather than risk the good odds for a Republican takeover of the Senate.  It would allow Akin to stay in politics and regain the party’s backing, sparing him the ignominious exit from electoral politics — this week, at least.  It’s not a bad idea, but would Akin agree to it?  Stay tuned.

Update: According to Philip Klein, Akin is citing the PPP poll and claiming the problem is just one word:

Akin citing PPP poll

— Philip Klein (@philipaklein) August 21, 2012

Akin: "I misspoke one word in one sentence on one day"

— Philip Klein (@philipaklein) August 21, 2012

I addressed the issues of the PPP poll here, but even without the sample issues, the overwhelming negatives for Akin in the poll should be a reason to get out, not to stay in.