McCaskill Restarts Campaign

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. (AP) – Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill is back on the campaign trail for the first time after the death of her mother.Betty Anne Ward McCaskill died Monday after a long struggle with heart and kidney problems. The Democratic senator stopped campaigning last week while her mother was ill.McCaskill’s voice seemed to break Wednesday at a news conference as she admitting feeling “a little lost,” but said her mother, even on her death bed, was offering campaign advice and urging her to go on.McCaskill spoke outside a St. Louis County grade school about the importance of the school lunch program, noting that Republican opponent Todd Akin was one of just five lawmakers to oppose funding.Meanwhile, Akin was campaigning with former House speaker and presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich. Gingrich says Missouri voters can send a powerful signal to “the moneyed Republican establishment” by electing congressman Akin over McCaskill.Gingrich joined Akin for a rally Wednesday with about 100 supporters in Kansas City. He said an Akin victory not only could help Republicans gain a Senate majority but could teach a lesson to national GOP leaders – including presidential hopeful Mitt Romney – who abandoned Akin after he remarked that women’s bodies have ways of avoiding pregnancy in what Akin called “legitimate rape.”Akin apologized but rejected calls to quit.