Akin spokesperson Rick Tyler predicted that the NRSC would soon be fully back on board.

“They’re running out of plausible options to win the Senate without Missouri,” Tyler said of the Republican committee that funds Senate candidates. “This is pragmatic politics. Akin has been able to stay competitive here all on our own. He’s got a very good chance. In fact, I would say this is now the easiest pickup race that they have.”

And after besieging Akin with criticism for weeks on end and accusing him of putting his own ambition over his party, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said in an interview Thursday with RCP that Akin was “absolutely” preferable to McCaskill.

“That’s a given, and as chairman of the party, I have an obligation to make sure we win as many seats in the Senate as possible,” Priebus said. “. . . And our obligation manifests itself in the ground operation and making sure as many Republicans turn out to the polls as possible.”