Sen McCain decides to write off Michigan

Cross off one battleground state in the battle for electoral votes:

news.yahoo.com...

While this is not a surprise to some people, it does make the election a little more interesting. Sen McCain is still going to spend money in Wisconsin and Minnesota to try to keep them competitive, and their last vote was more for Kerry in 2004. I would of thought Michigan would be more competitive than Wisconsin or Minnesota, but the McCain campaign thinks otherwise.
Sen Obama plans to still treat Michigan as a battleground state and will campaign there. Michigan is a must win for Sen Obama, and this news must be pretty good to the Obama campaign. Ohio and Pennsylvania are where they will probably hunker down in, with New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado and Virginia staying in Sen Obama's sights. Sen McCain will fight more heavily in Pennsylvania and to keep Ohio red, while hanging on to the other states that were red in 2004.
Michigan has the same type of demographics as Ohio and Pennsylvania (with minor differences, but with the same rust belt blue collar workers), and writing off Michigan may make it harder to turn Pennsylvania red and keep Ohio red.
The economy is taking its toll on the people, and the campaign is starting to focus on it. This is what the Obama people need, but they have to sell what they would do differently to the independent voters. The McCain people have to show what he will do differently than the currant administration to keep states and possibly gain another state.
With New Mexico and Iowa turning blue, Sen McCain has to turn a blue state red or will lose this election. As we have seen, this election is a rollercoaster which has not been seen in a long time. The closer the election date comes, the harder it is to seal the deal.

Obama just spent a couple of days here in western North Carolina; the area is mostly rural and blue collar--not a population that has gone Democatic since Jimmy Carter. But Obama drew big crowds, and the local tv station broadcast his rally live. I have never seen people here so enthusiastic about a politician. Obama was smart to campaign in the reddest part of our state. I predict NC will be blue this year.

IMO the economy is not McCain's strongest suit, and the "rust belt" is reflecting that. The more the economy goes down the more the middle and working classes are likely to vote Democratic.

reply to post by Sestias


The polls are showing a tight race in North Carolina. Virginia also has Sen Obama in a lead. The numbers are beginning to gel, and they don't take into account the newly registered voters. The Obama campaign does know how to get out the vote, something earlier Democratic candidates were weak on.
The states with early voting will also favor Sen Obama, but there is still much work to do on both sides.