McCain Pulling Out Of Michigan

The Politico reports that John McCain's electoral map is getting smaller:

John McCain is pulling out of Michigan, according to two Republicans, a stunning move a month away from Election Day that indicates the difficulty Republicans are having in finding blue states to put in play.

McCain will go off TV in Michigan, stop dropping mail there and send most of his staff to more competitive states, including Wisconsin, Ohio and Florida. Wisconsin went for Kerry in 2004, Ohio and Florida for Bush.

Marc Ambinder adds:

A McCain adviser confirmed the news but noted that the Republican National Committee's independent expenditure arm is still running ads there, and that McCain will keep most of his staff in-state. McCain officials and Michigan Republican Party officials declined to comment. Weirdly, McCain's staff scheduled a surrogate conference call with Mitt Romney for this afternoon, perhaps assuming that their shift in advertising would not be noticed or reported. The McCain move was disclosed one day after auto manufacturers based in the state reported record revenue declines. Previously, McCain has argued that Obama's intention to raise taxes on the rich would further deepen Michigan's worst-in-the-nation recession.

The move away from Michigan reflects the abandonment of any pretense that McCain can spend freely to expand the map for Republicans this year, and it's a sign that the campaign recognizes how the past two weeks have erased nearly all of McCain's gains since August. Instead, McCain's playing defense in states like Florida, Virginia and North Carolina, although his advisers do not consider the latter state as close as public polling suggests.

The AP says that the RNC ads up in Michigan are not expected to continue either.

McCain's campaign discussed the move today, saying that the candidate now needs to win Pennsylvania, Wisconsin or Minnesota.

"We felt like being able to play in Michigan up to this point was an offensive move," a McCain aide said. "As we close down into Election Day, our map is going to become more targeted."

Recent polls have shown Obama opening up significant leads in every battleground state, a stunning shift.

Comments

[Heytonite]

I think Michigan has been at WAR long enough striving to stay a float ...
McCain wont bother me if you pull out of MY STATE ... We need more than a FRIEND ( McCain not my friend) Even Jenny on the Block has proven her own words - blown Michigan Away " all by herself". I didnt vote for her either. Oh and Take the PTA MOM with You ...her Voice alone is enough to create Havoc.

OBAMA/BIDEN is MY TICKET ..........­......sorr­y Hockey Mom.

[LHoney]

Ahhhh... They must have those voting machines all rigged up!

[alleycat32]

I for one am eternally grateful he has pulled out of Michigan. Now if we could only get whats her face to leave the lower 48 it would be a relief.

[RRK70]

"Pulling Out" is not the correct term, I believe it is referred to as "waving the white flag of surrender".

[RRK70]

I don't think "pulling out" is the term that McCain uses.

I think they prefer to refer to it as McCain "waving the white flag of surrender" in Michigan.

[Betsygk]

Palin said on Fox news today that she was angry with the campaigns decision to pull out of Michigan and she said she fired off an email to the campain "Oh c’mon, do we have to?” Palin said she wrote. McCain has to know he is in deep trouble if even Sarah Palin thinks he's too stupid to run this campaign correctly.

[1differentdrummer]

Campaignus interruptus. Michigan 86'd John.

[TN]

Yeah! Now he needs to pull out of the election, for the good of the country. Why waste millions of taxpayers money on voting when everyone knows he is going to lose big time.

[nedem]

He is not pulling out of Michigan..­.he is suspending his campaign so he can avert a crisis in other states. I'm hoping that will work about as well as when he suspended his campaign for the bailout.

[white mende man]

***NEWS FLASH***
McCain pulling out of Arizona

now that will be news you can really use.

[dolphy]

I saw a McSame ad on tv here in ca yesterday. He's doing worse here than in mi, so he better pull out here too. McSame is toast.

[jhw22]

Purge vs. surge.

Jennifer

[henryhill]

So he's clearly not averse to pulling out when victory in Michigan appears lost, why won't he do that in Iraq and Afghanistan?

[FaceYourFears]

Hit the road Jack and don't you come back.....n­o more, no more, no more, no more.

[jacqmac]

According to MOST maps that I've seen-it is MCCAIN who is playing DEFENSE here. And NOT-repeat NOT-doing a very good job either. Do you realize how many 'battleground states' have opened up since the Republican Convention? Actually-in the last two-three WEEKS? This is WONDERFUL NEWS for Obama-NOT great news for McCain! The WONDERFUL NEWS is that the FIFTY STATE STRATEGY IS WORKING. McCain is on DEFENSE in states where his people thought he'd win 'handily' and Obama is forcing him into 'new' territory on a DAILY basis. AND SO FAR-this 'new territory' isn't being swayed very easily!
As a NATIVE of Michigan AND DETROIT--I knew that it would go Obama's way just as soon as he made MAJOR APPEARANCES IN DETROIT.. Obama WILL TAKE MICHIGAN--BUT ALL CAMPAIGN WORKERS NEED TO BE EXTRA VIGILANT..­.Michigan Repubs are nasty!!