I have to go into Grand Haven later this afternoon and I wonder if I should say good bye to the people at the Obama office there. So far its been a great convenience, allowing me to get Obama gear to distribute for suggested contributions which are below what the campaign charges by mail, plus no wait. Now I wonder if they will be keeping them around. At the beginning of October McCain gave up on Michigan, and now trails by double digits in recent polls.
Since then the battleground has changed, with Obama having strong leads in the blue states and challenging in several states which have not voted Democratic in recent years. Marc Ambinder reports that some of the Michigan field staff is being transferred to previously red states such as Indiana and North Carolina. Recent polls show Obama with a slight lead in North Carolina, which has not gone Democratic since Jimmy Carter won the state.
I figure Indiana will never settle the election. If Obama wins there it will mean he has also won in most of the battle ground states and the electoral votes would not be decisive. Still, I would love to have both of our neighbors to the south join us in the 21st century, and allow Obama to sweep the Big Ten states. (Would that mean he could go to the Rose Bowl?) Elsewhere in the Big Ten region, WisPolitics believes that the Republicans are also backing away from advertising buys in Wisconsin due to Obama moving out to a double digit lead there.
In Lenawee County (Michigan) at least some of the Obama paid staff have left for NC but the offices are still open and run by volunteers working the phones and going door-to-door.
I suspect that will be the pattern–leaving volunteers behind to keep the offices open.