McCain Giving Up on Michigan -Don't Let the Door Hit You on the Way Out, John

John McCain's path to the White House just got a lot longer and narrower. He's giving up on winning Michigan, taking staff with him and pulling advertising for the state. Good riddance, John.

McCain campaign pulls out of Michigan

Decision alters strategy in race for White House; Move could hurt GOP in other Mich. Races

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081003/POLITICS01/810030403

Gordon Trowbridge and Deb Price / Detroit News Washington Bureau

John McCain's decision to pull his presidential campaign out of Michigan has radically altered the quest for the White House and could harm the chances of Republican candidates down the ballot and across the state.

The decision to end Michigan-specific ads and transfer paid staffers elsewhere means Michigan likely won't see much of McCain in the waning days of the campaign and likely ends his hopes of becoming the first Republican to win the state since 1988.

"Our operations will be scaled back, but will still be in place in Michigan," said Mike DuHaime, McCain's political director. The campaign said it would shift money and staff that had been targeted toward Michigan into Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Maine.

Said Barack Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe: "This is a meaningful moment strategically. Their narrow path just got narrower."