McCain camp cedes ground in Michigan
CNN) -- A senior adviser to Sen. John McCain confirms to CNN that the campaign is "shifting resources" from Michigan to Ohio and Pennsylvania, and "opening up an offensive front" in Maine.
Sen. John McCain will shift resources from Michigan to other key states, according to campaign aides.
Michigan was always a long shot for McCain, who lost the state to native son Mitt Romney in the Republican primary. A Republican presidential candidate hasn't won there in two decades, since George H.W. Bush's 1988 victory.
But McCain had a surprisingly close showing in some polls, and he made a significant time investment campaigning in the state this year.
Macomb County -- home of the original Reagan Democrats -- was one of the first stops for McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, on their post-convention tour of battleground states; they held a town hall in Grand Rapids two weeks ago.
Local Republican officials told CNN they were thrilled to have Palin on the ticket, saying her accent and love for guns made her someone independents and Democrats uncomfortable with Sen. Barack Obama could relate to.
But nowhere does the economy loom larger as an issue than in this hard-hit industrial state, suffering from a decade-long slump. The Obama campaign has tried to capitalize on the Democratic nominee's polling advantage on the issue, running ads in the state that accuse McCain of not doing more to protect Michigan jobs.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/02/campaign.wrap/index.html