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Michigan Falls off the Battlefield
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ShareOctober 02, 2008 3:17 PM
ABC News' David Chalian Reports: John McCain's path to the 270 electoral votes he must secure in order to win the White House may have just gotten a little bit harder. ABC News can confirm a Politico report that the McCain campaign is pulling the plug on trying to flip the state of Michigan from Blue to Red and locking up those key 17 electoral votes. According to Republicans familiar with the McCain campaign's plans in the Wolverine State, McCain has canceled a planned event in the state and is expected to halt his television advertising there.
Although McCain's move does not deliver a net gain of electoral votes into Obama's column, the significance of taking the populous state off the battlefield cannot be overstated.
A senior McCain adviser, however, played down the significance of the move by stating that Michigan was more about spreading the field of play on Obama rather than a needed state for their campaign to get the needed 270 electoral votes.
As the general election began to take shape in early summer, McCain campaign aides saw Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire as their best opportunities to take some states that John Kerry won in 2004 and place them in the GOP column. Losing one of those key targets of opportunity while still having to defend a slew of Red states such as Colorado, Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida, and Indiana is a tough blow to the McCain campaign as it seeks to maintain viable paths to 270 electoral votes.
However, Wisconsin - with its 10 electoral votes - is a Midwestern state that has gone Democratic in the last few presidential elections, but now is proving to have some staying power as a battleground state where both campaigns appear fully engaged.
Michigan's economy has been struggling for longer and more severely than any other state in the union. According to recent polls, the ongoing financial crisis dominating the news and the campaign trail appears to be working in Sen. Obama's favor.
"John McCain has outperformed anybody that the Republicans could have nominated," said Bill Ballenger, the editor of "Inside Michigan Politics," a non-partisan political newsletter. But "things have not gone well for him here since the Wall Street debacle. He has lost ground. This Wall Street meltdown has exacerbated people's anxiety about the economy and it makes it even more impossible for the Republican nominee, whoever it might be."
"We're going to work hard every day to win here and help turn around an economy that has been devastated by job losses during the past eight years of George Bush policies that John McCain wants to continue," senior Obama adviser Robert Gibbs tells ABC News.
You may hear that loud sigh of relief in that statement as the Obama campaign can now start to increasing resources to protect other potentially vulnerable Democratic turf now that Michigan appears to be wiped off the battleground state map. It was probably an extra sweet bit of news for the campaign since it arrived as Sen. Obama was campaigning in Michigan.
ABC News' Teddy Davis and John Berman contributed to this report.
October 2, 2008 in McCain, John, Obama, Barack | Permalink | User Comments (405)
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Yeah, no more McCain ads in MI!! I'm so relieved. Now, I can start watching network TV again without having to hear from him. Now, if only the RNC would pull their ads, my happiness would be complete.
Posted by: This is SO Old | Oct 2, 2008 3:26:28 PM
Yes! Nice work Michigan. But we still have work to do. Next let's take WI, PA, & NH off the battleground map, and we'll be sittin' pretty. The Republicans have had their chance and did nothing but damage this great country. Now it's up to us to fix their mess.
Posted by: dem in chicago | Oct 2, 2008 3:28:49 PM
Why does the McCain camp always need to lie. They say they are dropping out to spread the field on Obama. It is Obama who has spread the field on them sense this all began. It is actually one of the things that made Obama's strategy different then most. Question, why do all Republicans lie?
Posted by: jen | Oct 2, 2008 3:29:13 PM
Virginia will be next. Polls and folks here are shifting to Obama.
Posted by: nubiangent08 | Oct 2, 2008 3:31:18 PM
I think this has to do with Ohio and Florida moving towards Obama. The McCain camp has realized that they have to defend those 2 states in order to win this thing.
Posted by: Sandra | Oct 2, 2008 3:32:16 PM
NH heading that way quickly too.
Posted by: dl | Oct 2, 2008 3:33:19 PM
and sandra
I think you are dead on.
Posted by: dl | Oct 2, 2008 3:33:50 PM
Mccain can you pull out of Pa too? Im so tired of watching Tv and having one of your ads that are complete LIES come on MCCAIN PA DOES NOT WANT YOU! GET OUT OF MY STATE AND STAY OUT!
Posted by: angie | Oct 2, 2008 3:33:55 PM
Too bad most people in Michigan, including my brother, are too stupid to realize the the libs and Obama advisors are the ones that caused this mess in the first place!
Posted by: Jen | Oct 2, 2008 3:35:08 PM
I think McCain should "suspend" his campaign yet again.
Heck, why did he "un"suspend it in the first place? The last I checked, the crisis had not been resolved.
Posted by: Shripathi Kamath | Oct 2, 2008 3:35:27 PM
Dont forget NC. We have been gaining in this state for several months now. At one point Obama was down 18 points, he is now up by 2. We can turn North Carolina blue as well as our neighbor to the north Virginia. It will be the beginning of the end of the republican stronghold on the south. Go Obama!
Posted by: roberincharlotte | Oct 2, 2008 3:36:39 PM
I think that before November 4th the whole United States will be moving towards Obama, after all you can only take so much drama....
Posted by: beck | Oct 2, 2008 3:37:45 PM
Wow, Michigan, the state where republicans have made a bastion of jobs and environmental pristine. So Mc Cain dumps them after trying to use them the same ay he’s trying to use the rest of the nation to fulfill his egotistical legacy. Then he will drop dead of old age or cancer and leave the government in the hands of the Palin’s. For Michigan anyway, thank God its over. “Change is come” OBAMA 08’
Posted by: Joe_mainstreet | Oct 2, 2008 3:38:47 PM
This is truely exciting. Obama can afford to lose Florida or Ohio as he has gained several states from the republicans and more to come. I do think in the end though he will win them both, but there is a bit of a cushion. NO MORE DRAMA VOTE FOR OBAMA!
Posted by: roberincharlotte | Oct 2, 2008 3:39:08 PM
I think that the Ohio/Florida situation is right on target too.
Chances were slim he would win here. Also very slim in Wisconsin or PA at this point.
Posted by: MIguy | Oct 2, 2008 3:39:16 PM
McCain and Palin represent what this country needs to continue to be "one Nation Under God" Do we underestimate HIM??
Posted by: Rhonda | Oct 2, 2008 3:39:47 PM
While you're at it, you might as well pull out of Colorado too. The last 6 polls have you losing the state and your stupid ads aren't going to change anything. Leave us alone old man.
Posted by: Jeremy | Oct 2, 2008 3:39:59 PM
Again, McCain is acting as if Obama's strategy is his own. McCain and team are running around in circles and they don't have a clue what to do anymore.
Posted by: The Unshrub | Oct 2, 2008 3:40:24 PM
As MI is taken off the map, look for ND, NE, WV, and MT to be added to the battleground map in the next few weeks. Especially MT, I've been shocked that Obama hasn't been closer there and as things fall apart for the Republicans nationally, those polls should swing blue soon.
Keep and eye on Georgia as well, Obama has cut McCains lead by more then half in the last few weeks and now is threatening to bring the state with in the margin of error.
Posted by: blakec | Oct 2, 2008 3:41:01 PM
YAY for Georgia. You can do it, turn blue. Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia. The south will rise again and be counted. Go Obama/Biden. NO MORE DRAMA VOTE FOR OBAMA!
Posted by: roberincharlotte | Oct 2, 2008 3:43:48 PM
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