On Thursday, several news sources reported that Republican John McCain's campaign is largely abandoning efforts to win in Michigan. McCain's campaign has confirmed the move, although many news reports are conflicted as to what that really means. The original report on Politico.com says that McCain is sending most of his Michigan staff elsewhere and will stop running television ads and doing direct mail advertising. According to TheAtlantic.com, the Republican National Committee (RNC) will still run advertisements in Michigan.

Here in Kent County, Kent County Republican Committee Executive Director Sam Moore sent out an email to "Kent GOP Supporters" explaining the situation. In the email, Moore says that McCain's campaign "made a strategic decision yesterday to shift some resources from Michigan to other states as he continues to shore up support for a victory in November." Moore put a positive spin on McCain's campaign by saying that McCain is best when he is behind:

"Senator McCain is at his best when he is trailing in the polls, we have seen this time and time again and we will continue to work hard in Michigan to ensure that the race remains close. In 1990, no political observers thought John Engler would defeat incumbent Governor Jim Blanchard, but we did. Many thought John McCain's presidential campaign was over this past summer, but he proved once again, he is at his best when he is behind and we anticipate this to be the case again."

Moore went on to argue that as the United States hears more about Obama's policies, voters will turn to McCain.

According to the latest poll, McCain trails Obama by ten percentage points in Michigan.