Reports: McCain Giving Up on Michigan
Politics Daily — Filed under: Democrats, Republicans, Barack Obama, John McCain, Breaking News, 2008 PresidentJohn McCain apparently thinks he doesn't have a chance in Michigan. Citing two Republican sources, Politico.com is now reporting that McCain is going off the air in that state, will stop dropping mail there and will pull out his staff and redeploy them to more competitive states. Politico says the "stunning" move indicates the hard time the GOP is having finding blue states to perhaps swing red - or, at least purple. I haven't heard from McCain's camp directly, but will bring you their response when I get it. UPDATE: ...

Sarah, the Punch Line
Taylor Marsh — BY TAYLOR MARSH But the news of the hour is that McCain is pulling out of Michigan. 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 ...

Excellent Ominous News for McCain!
Talking Points Memo — The Politico says McCain is pulling out of Michigan.

But, but, I thought McCain had the angry white male vote sewn up?
If I Ran the Zoo — McCain pulling out of Michigan 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-Palin Giving Up on Michigan: Beginning of the End?
FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog — ... Apparently Team McCain is pulling out of Michigan and will concede the state to Barack Obama. Remembering that John Kerry won Michigan in 2004 by 3.4 % and Al Gore in 2000 by 5.2% The latest battleground state polls show McCain-Palin cratering in support. Is this the beginning of the end? Probably. Economic turmoil and McCain’s failure to address the concerns of the American people with regards to the economy have caused this downward spiral. The American electorate are not happy and will punish President Bush and the GOP, as ...

Increasingly erratic McCain campaign suspending its operation in Michigan
AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth — For months, both campaigns have been trying to figure out which states are in play for them. We've been hearing repeatedly that McCain was going to pour resources into Michigan and Pennsylvania, which have been voting Democratic in the past elections. Not anymore. Today, Jonathan Martin is reporting that the McCain campaign is leaving Michigan and its 17 electoral votes: ...

All Good Naysayers, Speak Up! Or Forever Hold Your Peace!
Hit & Run — The Politico's Jonathan Martin has the scoop: 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. Aside from the obvious, horse race implications (It's gotten 17 electoral votes harder for McCain to reach 270), I think this strikes ...

McCain Abandons Michigan
The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan — A sign of the times? I'd be worried about Florida if I were him.

McCain Is On The Verge Of Failure
pandagon.net - we are the public option — by Jesse Taylor John McCain is pulling out of Michigan. McCain can win the election without Michigan, of course...but the fact that he’s essentially retreated into a defensive crouch, hoping to just hold on to Bush’s electoral majority without building upon it, is a real problem for him.  Looking at the toss-up map, Obama is 11 electoral votes away from a victory today.  Assuming that Obama carries Minnesota (which, if McCain is pulling out of Michigan, Minnesota’s not far behind), if Obama can win any state out of NH, VA, ...

McCain campaign pulls out of Michigan
Sister Toldjah — Jonathan Martin has the scoop. Bottom line is that things looked competitive there for a bit but with the economy in the shape that it’s in right now, growing numbers of Michiganders - bizarrely trusting Democrats on the issue of the economy regardless of years of them running the economy there into the ground - are supporting Barack Obama, who has his own role to play in the nation’s current economic crisis, along with several other prominent Democrats ...

War and Piece — | Main October 02, 2008 Politico : McCain pulling out of Michigan. Posted by Laura at October 2, 2008 02:04 PM

Politico: McCain Pulling Out Of MI
Hotline On Call Part Deux — ... Politico's Martin reports that John McCain's camp is pulling their ads off the air in MI, stop dropping mail there and send staff to more competitive states, including WI, OH and FL. ...

Political Stunner: McCain Pulling Out Of Michigan
The Moderate Voice — This has got to be one of the most stunning political stories of the post-Labor Day presidential campaign season: Republican nominee Sen. John McCain is reportedly pulling out of Michigan: 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. McCain’s campaign ...

McCain Campaign Pulling Out Of Michigan And Staffing Up In Virginia
TPM Election Central — ... I just got in touch with the McCain campaign, and they're not contesting this report from Jonathan Martin that the McCain campaign is pulling out of Michigan: ...

Michi-Gone: McCain Pulls Out of Michigan
Firedoglake — ... moved into MI? Were Obama's internals worse than the public polls? Rayne noted that some of the later events--Michelle's two and Obama's rally today in Grand Rapids--weren't exactly in Democratic strongholds (for example, Grand Rapids is where all the GOP billionaires hang out in the state). I wondered, though, what the tactical thinking was, particularly since--until a few days ago--Obama's numbers in MI were stronger than they were in PA. And then I read this, from the Politico: ...

Michigan Falls off the Battlefield
Political Radar — ... Michigan Falls off the Battlefield October 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 ...

McCain Gives Up on Michigan
Taegan Goddard's Political Wire — Sen. John McCain "is pulling out of Michigan," reports Jonathan Martin, "a stunning move a month away from Election Day that indicates the difficulty Republicans are having in finding blue states to put in play." ...

Pulling Up Stakes in Michigan
Comments from Left Field — The electoral map shrinks a little bit today as it becomes clear that the McCain campaign is pulling up stakes in Michigan, an apparent concession that the state is no longer in play. Michigan, when this whole thing began, was among the most vulnerable of the blue states that McCain could feasibly pick off, but with the canceling of scheduled events and the shutting down of field offices, that appears to longer be the case.  This also shows just how few paths to the White House the McCain ticket has at this point. With Michigan no longer considered a swing state, according to Pollster, Obama would just need twenty more electoral votes to ...

McCain to Surrender Michigan?
Newshoggers.com — By BJ Sorry Fester, it appears that the McCain camp has decided to pull out of Michigan instead of Pennsylvania. 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 ...

Out of Michigan?
The Corner on National Review Online — [image] [image] NRO BLOG ROW | THE CORNER | ARCHIVES SEARCH E-MAIL PRINT RSS [image] [image] Thursday, October 02, 2008 [image] Out of Michigan? [ Rich Lowry ] Here. 10/02 03:29 PM [image] [image] [image] © National Review Online 2008. All Rights Reserved. Home | Search | NR / Digital | Donate | Media Kit | Contact Us This page loaded in 0.007714 seconds.

McCain pulling out of Michigan
Democratic Underground Latest Breaking News — ... had been bullish on Michigan, hopeful that McCain's past success in the state in the 2000 primary combined with voter dissatisfaction with Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm and skepticism among blue-collar voters about Barack Obama could make it competitive. McCain and his running mate Sarah Palin spent the night after the GOP convention at a large rally in Macomb County, just outside Detroit. The two returned later last month for another sizable event in Grand Rapids. Read more: http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/1008/McCai...

McCain Reportedly Pulling Out of Michigan
MoJo Blog Posts: mojo — ... from him in Michigan, John McCain is reportedly pulling all TV ads in the state and moving most staff to more competitive battlegrounds. The move means that McCain is not playing offense in any ...

McCain Concedes Michigan
Oliver Willis — Seems early. 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. McCain’s campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. ...

McCain's Now Playing Defense; Obama Bracing For Counterattacks
The Atlantic Politics Channel — The Politico reports this afternoon that the McCain campaign has canceled their television ads and direct mail program in Michigan, and plans instead to fortify McCain's defensive positions in states won by President Bush in 2004. ...

McCain giving up on Michigan?
Political Animal — ... Day, the McCain campaign has found itself with some unwelcome and uncomfortable questions to consider. The Obama campaign is stretching the map, and putting plenty of "red" states -- Ohio, Florida, Iowa, New Mexico, Virginia, Nevada, North Carolina, Indiana, and Missouri -- in play. McCain would love to play offensive, but with Obama's poll numbers looking stronger, he has to start giving up on some "blue" targets. And according to the Politico's Jonathan Martin, McCain will no longer try to win Michigan . John McCain is pulling out of Michigan, according to two Republicans, ...

McCain Pulling Out Of Michigan
Real Clear Politics - TIME.com — Politico 's Jonathan Martin reports that the McCain campaign is halting advertising and direct mail in Michigan and redistributing staff to other more-competitive states. Republicans had been bullish on Michigan, hopeful that McCain's past success in the state in the 2000 primary combined with voter dissatisfaction with Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm and skepticism among blue-collar voters about Barack Obama could make it competitive. McCain and his running mate Sarah Palin spent the night after the GOP convention at a large rally in Macomb County, just outside Detroit. ...

McCain gives up on Michigan
Hot Air » Top Picks — McCain gives up on Michigan posted at 4:05 pm on October 2, 2008 by Allahpundit Send to a Friend | printer-friendly Politico reports and Geraghty confirms. Michigan went blue four years ago so McCain doesn’t lose any electoral votes here, but compare the 2004 map with the state of play at the moment at RCP or Electoral-Vote . He can spare 16 of Bush’s EVs and still win the election even if he doesn’t flip any blue states; as things stand now, he’s looking at -7 in Iowa and -5 in New Mexico, with Virginia, Ohio, Florida, Nevada, and even Missouri and North Carolina(!) up in the air. The three Kerry states he has a realistic ...

As the Bank Run Ends, McCain May Have Another Shot
Open Left - Front Page — So McCain will have no more mail, TV, or staff in Michigan, though the Republican independent expenditures arm will still be running a campaign on his behalf.  Larry Kissell is leading by ...

McCain Concedes Michigan
Hoffmania! — ... Can he really afford to lose 17 electoral votes? This is very weird.

McCain Effectively Concedes Michigan
TalkLeft — Give Michigan's 17 electoral votes to Barack Obama. At least that's the way John McCain sees it. 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. McCain might as well write off Wisconsin while he's at it. Even rural Wisconsin communities that were littered with Bush signs four years ago now feature hard-to-get Obama signs. ...

Matt Lewis: McCain Pulls Out of Michigan
Townhall.com Blog's TownHall Blog — Just a couple of weeks ago, Michigan was looking somewhat competitive. As you may recall, I intereviewed John Dunagan , who served as state director for Bush-Cheney '04, about McCain's chances in the state. At the time, the analysis was that it would be very difficult, but that Palin would definitely be helpful to McCain in the state. Today, after weeks of bad economic news -- and with McCain falling in the polls -- Jonathan Martin and Chris Cillizza report that McCain has pulled out of Michigan. I caught up with Dunagan to get his take on this development. Here's what he told me ... Much like it’s beloved football team in Ann Arbor, Michigan is ...

Mccain Pulling Out Of Michigan
Seeing the Forest — Mccain Pulling Out Of Michigan If true, this is a very good sign. Jonathan Martin's Blog: McCain pulling out of Michigan - Politico.com , 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. So the "Hail Mary" aptempts to set fire to his campaign backfired and set the campaign tent on fire. Dropping in the ...

Polls In Red States
DownWithTyranny! — ... Earlier today Congressional Quarterly changed its rating on two Michigan races from "leans Republican" to toss-up. Blue America candidates Gary Peters and Mark Schauer are now seen as winners against Republican right-wingers Joe Knollenberg and Tim Walberg. The fact that McCain has read the writing on the wall and decided to pull his faltering campaign out of Michigan entirely probably dooms the both of them. ...

Team McCain Pulls Out of Michigan
Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines — ... including Wisconsin, Ohio and Florida. Wisconsin went for Kerry in 2004, Ohio and Florida for Bush. McCain’s campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Republicans had been bullish on Michigan, hopeful that McCain’s past success in the state in the 2000 primary combined with voter dissatisfaction with Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm and skepticism among blue-collar voters about Barack Obama could make it competitive. Read more READ THE WHOLE ITEMRelated ...

McCain quits Michigan
Daily Kos — Yesterday we discussed McCain's precarious electoral situation, under siege in way too many Bush states, making in roads in way too few Kerry states. Given his tighter financial picture, McCain had to make some decisions and refocus his campaign. Today, he made the first of what should likely be many such decisions: 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 ...

Strangest Pre-Debate Spin Ever?
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... Just a quick question about this Michigan announcement -- that McCain is pulling out of the state. Does this mean McCain-land is the first campaign ever to make their pre-debate spin be "we're going to lose"? I guess the good news for them is that it lowers the bar... ...

Strangest Pre-Debate Spin Ever?
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... Just a quick question about this Michigan announcement -- that McCain is pulling out of the state. Does this mean McCain-land is the first campaign ever to make their pre-debate spin be "we're going to lose"? I guess the good news for them is that it lowers the bar... ...

Today's Polls, 10/2
FiveThirtyEight: Politics Done Right — ... Obviously, there are a lot of great numbers for Obama today. Essentially all of the CNN polls look good for him, as do the other couple of Florida polls. Rasmussen has him maintaining his lead in North Carolina, and PPP has him way ahead in Michigan -- enough, apparently, that MCcain has now given up on winning the state (more on this when I get a moment). ...

A Brief Interview With Chairman Dean
FiveThirtyEight: Politics Done Right — ... Obama and Hillary Clinton were required to return the files with updated data. With a contested primary or caucus in virtually every state, and hundreds of thousands of volunteer organizing hours powering that list-refinement, the voter files Dems are operating with just this cycle are both more up to date than the Republican files as well as being worked much, much harder right now during the general election. Of course, Michigan -- where Dems did not have a contested primary, just came off the board today. ...

FakeJohnMcCain cracks me up
culturekitchen - fresh dissent served daily — He's making a list of words to avoid when debating a woman : skankiloquy milfibuster chicksplosion In other news, the real McCain likes to pull out before finishing the job. He's closing shop and leaving Michigan. What a quitter. I thought you needed to pump harder and harder, so you could get a huge surge before coming back in victory.

McCain gives up on Michigan
The Reaction — By Michael J.W. Stickings The Politico's Jonathan Martin has the news: 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... A McCain aide confirmed the move and chalked it up to the ...

McBush/McSame Bashing Special Edition (Palin-Biden Debate Edition)
Discourse.net — A special edition because I felt like it. Thursday Howard Fineman: Palin is Test of McCain’s Judgment Kos, RNC calls McCain a liar HuffPo, McCain Camp’s Pre-Debate Spin: Palin Doesn’t Need To Pass IQ Test Politico, McCain pulling out of Michigan Crooks & Liars, Obama Hits Back Hard Against McCain on the Economy TPM McCain Says Bailout Bill He Voted For Is ...

Calling It Like I See It
Sound Politics — ... . Now consider the news that the McCain campaign is downgrading efforts in Michigan . For months the Wolverine State was legitimately thought to be one of the best opportunities for the GOP to turn a state from blue to red. If things aren't clicking there it does not speak well of the current dynamics of this campaign - though by no means should it be construed that the cause is lost. Yet, if a state like Michigan is not worth competing anymore, what the hell is McCain doing in a state where he's down about 10 points with a month to go in the race? The point is that bloggers ...

There Should Have Been A Swimsuit Section And Maybe Target Shooting-- Or Alligator Wrestling
DownWithTyranny! — Expectations were so low for Sarah Palin's performance last night that the fact that she showed up at all and didn't refer to Dick Cheney as the Speaker of the House or claim that McCain was responsible for The South winning the Civil War has caused delirium in the delusional and deranged fringes of the far right. Nevermind that all the polls found that Biden had beaten her-- let alone that earlier in the day McCain had abandoned Michigan as unwinnable-- the NY Times claimed the Republican ticket survives one test and that Palin recaptured her image. Mooselini didn't vomit onstage and slip in it. And if all of ...

McCain and Michigan
FiveThirtyEight: Politics Done Right — I never had the chance to comment on yesterday's big news that the McCain campaign is pulling out of Michigan and re-directing those resources to other states. To evaluate this strategy, we need to ask at least three distinct questions: 1) Was the McCain campaign spread too thin? 2) If so, was Michigan the right state to pull out of? 3) Are they redirecting those resources to the right states? 1) Was the McCain campaign spread too thin? The Obama campaign has essentially succeeded in what it wanted to do: forcing McCain to play a big map. While Obama has had to give up on a couple of states they had hoped to compete in originally ...

MI-07, MI-09: McCain pulls out of Michigan, cripples Republicans downticket
Daily Kos — With Michigan Republican Representatives Tim Walberg (MI-07) and Joe Knollenberg (MI-09) both trailing their Democratic opponents (Mark Schauer and Gary Peters, respectively), the incumbents were no doubt counting on an aggressive campaign from Presidential nominee John McCain in the perennial swing state. Heck, Walberg himself said so: "We'll help him and he'll help us, there's no doubt about it,'' said U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, referring to GOP presidential nominee John McCain. "I think his message will truly resonate with people who want to have reform in Washington. He's not afraid to take anyone on.'' Walberg said he hopes ...

McCain Campaign Conceding Electoral College; Will Aim for "Close Second"
Open Left - Front Page — ... The McCain campaign has been making some tough choices lately. We got the news yesterday that McCain was closing shop in Michigan. Today the campaign has set its sights lower and will now try to lose "by less than Bob Dole, maybe even Bush 41 in 1992." Dole captured 159 electoral votes, Bush 41 got 168. ...

Erik Ose: Signs of Growing Friction Between McCain and Palin
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — The call to "Free Sarah Palin!" has been answered, and Palin off the chain is proving to be a loose cannon. The day after her debate with Joe Biden, Palin told FOX News she learned about the McCain campaign's decision to pull out of Michigan when she read about it in the newspaper that morning. Maybe this was just to reassure us she stays well informed by reading newspapers like The New York Times, part of her post-debate strategy to try a damage control re-do of her Katie Couric interviews that continued to drip out one Palin gaffe after another earlier in the week. But then she claimed to have "fired off a quick e-mail" in which she ...

How John McCain Lost
The American Spectator — John McCain lost the election Sept. 24 and Barack Obama will be the next president of the United States. Nothing that is likely to happen between now and Nov. 4 can change this outcome. Since Sept. 24, polls have increasingly pointed toward a Democratic landslide. Obama not only has an outside-the-margin advantage in nearly every national poll ...

How Obama Could Still Lose
The Stump — At our election discussion last week at the Sixth and I Synagogue, Frank asked if anyone thought Obama could lose barring some catastrophic external event. I happen to think Obama's chances of winning are upward of 80 percent, and so I didn't say anything. In fact, none of us chimed in. But, truth be told, I can imagine a losing scenario that doesn't involve outside events. It goes something like this: Obama wins all the Kerry states plus Iowa and New Mexico, giving him 264 electoral votes, then narrowly loses the rest of the red states where he's currently competitive. According to the latest RCP averages,* the next ...

No — I Do Not Write Under The Name “Noam Scheiber” at The New Republic. He Just Steals His Stuff From Me.
Patterico's Pontifications — Posted by WLS Shipwrecked: Some guy over at The Plank blog on TNR’s website has decided that the stuff I’ve been saying here for weeks is quite plausible — that Obama could win large margins in large states, win the national vote by 2-3 points, yet still lose squeakers in VA and PA, and return to the ranks as an otherwise undistinuished US Senator from Illinois. 1.) We’re at the point in the race when national trends may start diverging from trends in battleground states where McCain is still competing. After all, having an active campaign in a state makes a big difference. Just look at Michigan since McCain pulled out in ...

Sarah Palin Lies To Oprah
Think Progress — On the afternoon of Oct. 2, 2008 — the day of the vice presidential debate last year — Politico’s Jonathan Martin broke the news that Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) presidential campaign was “pulling out of Michigan.” The next day, vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin told Fox News’ Carl Cameron that she disagreed with the decision. “I fired a quick e-mail and said, oh, come on. Do we have to call it there?” said Palin. “I want to get back to Michigan and I want to try.” But in her interview with Oprah Winfrey, which aired yesterday, Palin claimed that she only “went rogue” on the ...

Sarah Palin Lies To Oprah
The Hollywood Liberal — Sarah Palin Lies To Oprah On the afternoon of Oct. 2, 2008 — the day of the vice presidential debate last year — Politico’s Jonathan Martin broke the news that Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) presidential campaign was “pulling out of Michigan.” The next day, vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin told Fox News’ Carl Cameron that she disagreed with the decision. […] On the afternoon of Oct. 2, 2008 — the day of the vice presidential debate last year — Politico’s Jonathan Martin broke the news that Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) presidential campaign was “ pulling out of Michigan .” The next day, vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin told Fox News’ Carl Cameron that she ...