After I saw it reported that Romney and his associated Super PACs are pulling out of Michigan and Pennsylvania, I had to go look up when McCain gave up on Michigan in 2008. I remembered the decision because Sarah Palin responded by going deeply off-message.
Palin told Fox News’ Carl Cameron that she disagreed with the McCain campaign’s decision to pull its advertising and staffers out of Michigan, effectively ceding the state to Barack Obama.
“I fired off a quick email and said, ‘Oh, come on. You know, do we have to? Do we have to call it there?'” Palin said.
The date that article was published? October 3, 2008.
So, Romney is conceding Michigan a full month earlier than McCain conceded it. Is that a sign that I am right that this election will not be closer than the 2008 election? I think it could be.
It should be remembered that McCain was financially strapped in a way that Romney and his billionaire backers simply are not. Romney (and Karl Rove and the Koch Brothers) has much more money to throw around. He can afford to waste it on long shots. McCain could not.
As for Pennsylvania, McCain never gave up because he couldn’t have possibly won the election without carrying the Keystone State.
By pulling out of Pennsylvania and Michigan so early, Romney has lost any margin of error. He can only win now by the narrowest of margins. He is literally on the cusp of defeat.
