Trailing in a state that has been hit hard by the nation’s faltering economy, Republican John McCain has decided to shift resources out of Michigan and move them to more favorable battleground states like Wisconsin and Indiana.
The Midwestern state, which offers 17 electoral votes, is considered left-leaning.
McCain, in an interview with The Denver Post editorial board Thursday, said that he isn’t “writing off any state” but that the campaign “doesn’t have unlimited amounts of money as basically Sen. Obama does.”
Barack Obama didn’t accept any public financing, which means he has no limits on what he can raise and spend. McCain has a taxpayer-donated spending limit of $84 million.
“In Michigan, we move resources around and people around as we see openings or areas we need to improve,” he said. “We’ll be making decisions basically, sort of, on the fly as to how things look.”
On a later conference call, the McCain campaign told reporters that it was focusing on Ohio, Indiana and Wisconsin.
Though he wouldn’t say they were giving up in Michigan, McCain’s withdrawal will make it impossible for him to make up ground, despite comments in the summer that Michigan would decide the election.
