In what has been perceived as a major concession, the McCain campaign announced this week that it would be pulling its campaign resources out of Michigan in order to shift to other battleground states.
The decision came after a series of polls showed Obama with a widening lead here and the same day that 16,000 people rallied in support of Barack Obama in the supposed Republican stronghold of Grand Rapids.
Both campaigns had previously argued that few winning scenarios existed without Michigan, though this fact more likely applied to Obama’s chances for securing a victory in November.
In addition to this development, McCain is now operating under limited resources as he accepted $84 million in public financing.
Significantly, the Michigan-based media is portraying the McCain campaign as having “given up on Michigan.”
That point is more than merely sarcastic or symbolic, however. In a campaign stop in the Midwest during the Republican primary race, McCain appeared to have given up on the fight for keeping manufacturing jobs in Michigan, a key component of Michigan’s economy when he said, “Have people lost jobs? Yes, they have, and they’re gonna lose jobs.”
By contrast, the Obama campaign’s message of investment in creating jobs and in revitalizing manufacturing in Michigan has more strongly resonated, leading to more solid poll numbers for the Democrat.
What I think he is going to be doing is to shore up his support in Indiana. The poll numbers for McCain have been uncharacteristically low for republicans in this state (I’ve always thought that the republicans can put Saddam up for election and Indiana would vote for him). McCain has actually started advertising here and I was wondering where he was going to pull the money to do so.
Still… no campaign appearances in Indiana by McCain like usual.
LOL…..sounds like my state…only if you are white can you win election on the national stage from the state….sucks..