INDIANAPOLIS -  

Two days after marking controversial comments during a debate, GOP Indiana Senate candidate Richard Mourdock is forging ahead with campaign plans and vowing to move on.

Mourdock was in Avon for a closed-door gathering with supporters Thursday morning, where supporters embraced and cheered his message.

With detractors from across the aisle excoriating him for his comments on abortion, rape and God, Mourdock said he won't engage.

"If they want to continue to dwell on it, take up airtime talking about that instead of fixing the economy, that's their problem, not mine," Mourdock said.

Sen. Jim DeMint, R-South Carolina, joined Mourdock at the fundraiser.

"If Richard Mourdock does not win the Senate seat, I'm probably going to be stuck with (Senate Majority Leader) Harry Reid the Barack Obama agenda for a long time to come," DeMint said. "I need Richard Mourdock's help a lot more than he needs my help."

DeMint said the importance of a Mourdock victory is not lost on any Republicans.

"There's not a Republican senator who does not see this as a race to get Harry Reid out of the majority status so that we can get some things done for our country," DeMint said. 

Supporters accept Mourdock's explanation of his comments.

"I heard that someone said that he stood for rape, and that wasn't what he meant. He just meant that a life conceived in rape is still valuable to God," said one supporter.

Mourdock said he's seen support from voters across the state.

At a campaign stop on Indianapolis' north side, Democratic candidate Joe Donnelly seized upon an opportunity to blast his opponent.

"People just don't understand how he could say something like that, and I hoped that after a night's reflection, he might speak differently about the subject," Donnelly said. "Mr. Mourdock's words were, I thought, inappropriate and hurtful to women and to survivors of rape and to their families."

Donnelly did not want to discuss how the controversy would affect the campaign, but he said people making calls for him were finding more support.