Under Financial Restraints, McCain Drops Michigan

Despite the state's history of voting Democratic four times in a row, Michigan was one swing state McCain hoped he could turn from blue to red.

Senior McCain adviser Greg Strimple called Michigan, which is suffering from the highest...

Senior McCain adviser Greg Strimple called Michigan, which is suffering from the highest unemployment rate in the country and has voted Democratic four times in a row, the "worst state of all the states that are in play'' for the campaign. The McCain campaign instead will focus its attention to swing state Ohio, which historically is key to winning the presidency.

(ABC News Photo Illustration)

Since effectively winning the Republican nomination in March, McCain has spent 11 days in the state. He has held 18 events, including four town-hall meetings and four fundraisers, and has spent nearly $8 million on ads, according to the Campaign Media Analysis Group, a company that monitors political advertising.

Looking at the polling data alone, McCain's chances in Michigan seemed no worse than in the battlegrounds of Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

According to a recent CNN/Time poll, Obama leads in Michigan 51 percent to 46 percent. In Pennsylvania, Obama leads 54 to 39; in Ohio 51 to 43; and in Florida 50 to 42, according to a Quinnipiac poll that came out last week and focused on the battleground states.

But observers say financial problems, both on the ground in Michigan and inside the McCain camp, likely led to his decision to walk.

"From this distance it looks like the decision was made from economic data as much or more as from political data. The campaign has come to a reasonable conclusion that voters, worried about their economic prospects, are much more likely to vote for Democrats," said Dan Schnur, a former McCain adviser and now political science professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

The economy is a key issue in Michigan, where a suffering auto industry has led to an 8.9 percent unemployment rate, the highest in the country. Over the past year, Michigan lost 40,000 jobs, according to federal statistics.

Given Michigan's financial woes, senior McCain adviser Greg Strimple called the state the "worst state of all the states that are in play'' for the campaign. "It's an obvious one from my perspective to come off the list,'' he said during last week's conference call.

While the economic downturn is perhaps more pronounced in Michigan than in any other state, the financial worries felt there are echoed along the rustbelt in swing states like Pennsylvania and Ohio.