McCain cuts and runs

This afternoon, amid all of the hoopla surrounding tonight's vice presidential debate, the McCain campaign quietly folded their tents and beat a hasty retreat out of Michigan. They will be off the air in Michigan, they will do no direct mailings, and they will not have any staff in Michigan. in short, McCain has "waved the white flag of surrender" in Michigan.

This really should come as no surprise. McCain's numbers in all of the swing states are tanking. In one week, Barack Obama has moved ahead in the polls in Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, New Hampshire, and Nevada. Missouri has moved from "leans McCain" to "toss up". If the election were held today, Senator Obama would score a Clintonesque landslide in the Electoral College.

For a great recap of the polls, check out Pollster.com.

It is clear that, at this time, McCain's firewall is collapsing. There should be no reason that a Republican is having to spend valuable (and limited) resources in states like Indiana and Virginia this late in the game. it seems that the McCain strategy of fighting Obama in the big industrial states has backfired miserably. By wasting precious time and money in these large, expensive states, McCain is leaving less for traditionally Republican states that are now suddenly trending Obama. If McCain is forced to cede any of the Bush 2004 states to Obama, the electoral map begins to look dicey for McCain to get to 270 electoral votes.

I would look for the next state for McCain to abandon to be either Wisconsin or Pennsylvania. in Pennsylvania, the cost of air time alone may eventually force this decision to provide adequate resources in the "firewall states".