McCain and Michigan

I wanted to air-drop this in today as I think a lot of folks are wondering about Michigan and what it means. Here is what MI GOP Chariman Saul Anuzis had to say:

McCAIN PULLS OUT OF MICHIGAN...SORT OF...the McCain campaign announced they were shifting resources and staff out of Michigan to other targeted states. Other states "today" offer a better opportunity for the campaign and they decided to shift their strategy. We do NOT agree.

Michigan Republicans kicked into overdrive last night. We had a series of conference calls and meetings with activists and donors, coming up with our own plan on how to implement a "Michigan strategy" for McCain and the rest of our ticket. This is a team effort from our perspective. McCain will lead our ticket, as we make sure we elect and re-elect Supreme Court Justice Cliff Taylor, U.S. Senate candidate Jack Hoogendyk, Congressmen Knollenberg and Walberg and our State House of Representative candidates. More info later.

We will have a revised plan in effect by next week and are NOT conceding an inch to the Obama campaign or any Democrats in Michigan. This is a battleground state, the numbers always tighten up and we will bring the McCain campaign back to Michigan by our own efforts statewide. Michigan Republicans are in to win!

Thanks to all for you for your continued support and never ending commitment to help turn Michigan around. Together, we can make a difference!

But in this email published by FOX News, Saul calls the move "a tough blow."

“I won’t sugar coat it; the McCain Campaign’s decision to pull out of Michigan is a tough blow,” Anuzis writes in a fundraising appeal. “This move leaves a tremendous hole in our ground campaign that we must now fill."

It sounds to me as if he is more upset at having to actually work on behalf of Michigan's candidates than he is disappointed in Team MCCain pulling out.

At any rate, I've heard that RNC forces are going to continue working in Michigan on behalf of Team McCain, although I am having some difficulty in tracking down confirmation of that at this time.

I don't think that this decision spells doom for Team McCain, but I do think that pulling out now is a sign that they now have to work harder in red states that have shifted purple or light blue (see CO, NM, VA for examples). McCain has to hope that he can hold the Bush map in order to win. That seems less likely today, but there is still plenty of time left on the clock for a gamechanger.

UPDATE: Our old friend Chris McNulty gets namedropped in to this piece...