John McCain is pulling out of Michigan.

McCain can win the election without Michigan, of course…but the fact that he’s essentially retreated into a defensive crouch, hoping to just hold on to Bush’s electoral majority without building upon it, is a real problem for him.  Looking at the toss-up map, Obama is 11 electoral votes away from a victory today.  Assuming that Obama carries Minnesota (which, if McCain is pulling out of Michigan, Minnesota’s not far behind), if Obama can win any state out of NH, VA, NC, PA, OH, FL, MO, IN or NV, he wins. 

It’s about managing expectations, and about fieldwork from here on in.  And if you can toss in some change, that’ll probably help, too.