and even they know it. I thought the polls in MI were surprisingly close and competitive until very recently? Apparently not now, and the GOP must have internal polling numbers that indicate MI is a lost cause.

WI is also going to be a waste of their time and precious resources, but that's OK, let 'em squander as much as they can in the Badger State. WI will go Obama too--maybe not by a huge margin, but I'm confident that Obama is safe there.

Look for McLame to pull out of PA soon too if the recent poll numbers hold up there.

OH and FL will be Grampy's last stand. Too bad for him, it won't work. He'll lose at least one of those states--most likely FL, as funny as that may seem. I guess the Sunshine State's closeted gay GOP governor won't be able to deliver it to Grampy after all! Too bad, so sad.

It would have been a tremendous bonus for McCain if Michigan remained as narrowly divided as it has been, and might still be.

Now that Kwame Kilpatrick (son of CBC Chair Carolyn Cheeks-Kilpatrick) is gone, and a reorganized city government is working on turning out the vote (Michigan is a Red state without Detroit), the bonus for McCain might no longer be there.

But the earlier status quo was such that Obama had to make huge media buys in Michigan, and he's spending the day there today, along with Mrs. Obama.

Obama had to work to hold Michigan. To lose Michigan would have been the end of the Obama electoral map.

Obama lawn signs outnumber McCain signs by a factor of at least 2 to 1 in nearly every neighborhood.

And this is an area that has voted for Repub. presidential candidates in all but one election since 1860. (The sole exception? 1864, when W. Mich voted against Lincoln in the middle of the Civil War...)

Sinking everything into Ohio and Florida seems like a weak plan for McCain, given that neither state is actually necessary for Obama in many of his Scenerios.

If McCain is really going for a Monkey Wrench approach, he needs to keep Colorado and New Mexio, and press into New Hampshire.

Those three keep Obama alive without Ohio and Florida, and all three have a strong republican or pro-McCain record.

Of course, I've been of the opinion lately that McCain doesn't expect to win this race, and at this point is just trying to keep Obama in the low three hundreds.

Focusing on Ohio and Florida would accomplish that, but it isn't going to win the race for McCain, which is probably what McCain now realizes.

McCain has been running ads in Indiana. A state that has been solidly Republican for decades and that no Republican candidate has had to spend any time on in years.

The McCain camp is being forced to spend money to defend what should be secure strongholds. Its no wonder they are cutting resources in places like Michigan and other 'battleground' states.

It's FAR to soon to start celebrating (a lot can happen in four weeks). But team Obama's steady campaign, sticking to their message, not getting bogged down in the day-to-day dramas and slow uptick in attacks against McCain/Palin appears to be working.

I fully expect McCain will try another 'Hail Mary' play in the next couple of weeks. At this point the only real option he has left is some kind of dramatic game changer. The question is; what will try next?

I don't think McCain is putting many resources there. New Mexico will go down to the wire there with a highly contested ground game.

Obama has the momentum now. McCain needs one of those cliche 'game changers', without appearing more chaotic and erratic. I think the momentum is currently against McCain in IN, VA, and NC. Four weeks is a lot of time for things to change, but it's running out fast.

If he wins, it'll be a squeaker. We're doing early voting now, which will hopefully cut down on lines at the polls. However it goes, I don't think Ohio will be stolen this year.

And people here are broke, unemployed and cant' see much light at the end of the tunnel. The Kilpatrick thing had absolutely nothing to do with the poll numbers. The only reason Obama isn't ahead by 10 in Michigan is because of racial tensions left over from the 68 riots. I live in the second reddest county in the state and have yet to see one McCain bumpersticker or lawn sign.

Maybe McTesty isn't spending any more dough in Michigan because the size of the GOP foreclosure lists have got so big that nobody will be able to vote for Obama.

http://michiganmessenger.com/4076/lose-your-house-lose-your-vote

Perhaps the McCain campaign is on to something. The more McCain is in the news, the more his poll numbers plummet. The obvious solution: get McCain out of the news. The more people see of him, the worse their impression. He's better off relying on his former reputation for maverice (maverickosity? maverociousness?) than trying so hard to make pepole agree with him by being such a dick(you'll agree with me, or else!).

LOL Probably!

I think as people get to know the real McCain, the less they like him. The *idea* of McCain is what sells. His constant flopping around like a dead fish to the next populist stance makes him seem like he has no idea what he's doing.

This is a good idea though, he has to squeak out a win and Michigan just isn't going to turn. Maybe with Romney he had a chance but not with the economy Michigan has.

By the way, this is what the 50 state strategy was all about. Forcing McCain to carefully choose where to spend his money since he don't have a lot.

Now that Kwame Kilpatrick (son of CBC Chair Carolyn Cheeks-Kilpatrick) is gone, and a reorganized city government is working on turning out the vote (Michigan is a Red state without Detroit), the bonus for McCain might no longer be there.

It may come as a surprise to you E-man, but there is significant white voter support for Obama here in my state.

As of the 2000 census, Deroit had less than 1,000,000 residents and has continued to lose population these past 7+ years. No way has Obama surged from a dead heat to a nine point lead in MI because Detroit now has a different mayor. People all over the state are finally paying attention. Macomb County's Reagan Democrats are coming around to Obabma, and the affluent Oakland County had been turning increasingly purple since 2006.