As I was browsing RealClearPolitics today, I came across an eye-catching story regarding McCain and his staffers in Michigan. According to the article, written by Susan Estrich, McCain removed his campaign from what Estrich describes as "the key state of Michigan". She is quick to point out how in the last four years Michigan has been an increasingly Democratic state, but also emphasizes that Michigan is by no means an "Obama stronghold". In fact, one of the more interesting points she highlights is how in 2000, McCain actually won Michigan.
This is interesting and I completely agree with Estrich's assertion that McCain's removal from Michigan is a sign of weakness. First off, as is pointed out in Estrich's article, this state really wasn't a guarantee for Obama and was a state in which McCain has had success previously. I personally would have expected for Michigan to be a reliable state for McCain due to his win there in 2000. Also, one of Michigan's key issues is its unemployment rate, which stands at 1.9% above the national average with an eye-opening 7.3% unemployed. An unemployment rate of this magnitude is attributable to Michigan's status as a manufacturing state. One would think that these economic factors would lead voters in Michigan to favor McCain's economic plan that aims to reduce corporate taxes so that jobs, including manufacturing jobs, will remain in the United States. This assumption is apparently incorrect.
Even more intriguing is the timing of McCain's withdrawal from Michigan. He chose to secede from the state on the day of the vice presidential debate. This timing seems a little too convenient for McCain. What McCain apparently planned to do was to minimize the damage that would be caused by withdrawing from Michigan by having it coincide with the VP debate. By timing it like this, he was able to remove his staffers while the media had its hands full with Palin and Biden. Its a clever strategy, but it shows his weakness regardless. In fact, it enhances the idea of McCain's weakness because the way he tried to hide his withdrawal just goes to show how he seems to realize that he is in trouble. If he thought everything was just fine, then why would he go through the effort to hide it?
No matter where you stand politically, it would appear that McCain is struggling here and is showing some of his weakness by withdrawing from Michigan. Certainly this will have an effect because there go 17 electoral votes that would have come in handy, but at least he can say he tried to cover it up!
Sources:
http://pollster.com/
http://election.nationaljournal.com/states/mi.htm
Estrich, Susan, RealClearPolitics.com, "McCain Leaving Michigan is a Sign of Weakness", http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/10/mccain_leaving_michigan_is_a_s.html, October 5, 2008
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1 comment:
yeah, this is just insane. THe fact the McCain actually won Michigan 8 years ago, and that now he's struggling so badly that he just gave up on it is not a good sign for a campaign. Im still surprised that he managed to hang on for this long, but honestly Im surprised about that with Obama to.
No matter what happens now it will be an unprecedented change for America. Either an inexperienced black man, or an old POW with a female crash test dummy will become president.
McCain seems like hes in his death throes right now, and personally I'm pretty happy about it
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