McCain Pulling Out of Michigan

It wasn't too long ago when state Republican mouthpiece, Bill Hobbs, was calling the Obama campaign "rattled and retreating" to generate the impression that the Dem was withering in the wake of the Republican convention. Hobbs either misconstrued or ignored the tactical pull-out of Georgia in order to bolster an increasingly competitive North Carolina. He called it "states slipping through Obama's grasp."

The question is now, how is the TNGOP Big Bop going to spin McCain's pull out of Michigan? You know the same gun-loving state that it was assumed moose-hunting Sarah Palin would pull in?


UPDATE: drilling down deeper into that Boston Globe piece on North Carolina, we find some sweating GOP strategists:

Several GOP strategists close to McCain's campaign privately fret that his chances for victory are starting to slip away.

These Republicans, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid angering the campaign, point to several factors: Obama's gains nationally and in traditionally GOP states, no McCain boost from the first debate, McCain's struggles with economic issues as the financial crisis has unfolded and deepening public skepticism about his running mate, Sarah Palin.

They said McCain's options for shaking up the race are essentially limited to game-changing performances in the final presidential debates or in Palin's vice presidential debate Thursday night with Joe Biden. Short of that, they said, McCain can do little but hope Obama stumbles or an outside event breaks the GOP nominee's way.