Chuckles Todd says the debate is no big deal. McLame pulling out of MI is the real story.

[jefferson_dem]

And dwindling "game changing" opportunities for McLame.

On Morning Dead Intern just now.

[whistle]

1. McCain pulling out of Michigan is a big deal it would be great if he

...did the same in Florida

[roguevalley]

17. he's pulling out of Penn also. Huffingtonpost says so.

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

2. K&R

[saltpoint]

3. McCain wanted Michigan. He isn't going to get it.

Obama's hold on the Great Lakes states strengthens with the McCain campaign's abandonment of Michigan.

Now let's work on Indiana.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

8. I think Dave Lettermen has delivered Indiana for Obama

[saltpoint]

12. True. Ball State Dave has done took the skillet to cranky McCain's noggin.

[Cha]

16. That would be too Cool! mccain blowing off Letterman to

go babysit palin on Couric's ..all because the window for vetting was too small if he were going to steal OBama's DNC THUNDER!

Campaign for Indiana via the Dave Letterman Show, Dave!

[Gman]

4. "Morning Dead Intern" LOL!!

[goclark]

14. Could someone please provide a link to what really happened

with that intern?

[Gman]

15. It happened around the same time as the Chandra Levy thing

Lots of links here: http://www.google.com/search?q=joe+scarborough+intern&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official

[No Elephants]

5. Good for Tawd! Maybe he is more astute than he seems?

[WeDidIt]

6. McCain should pull out of EVERY Kerry state except PA

He should then concentrate on defending the Bush states. With Obama on the offensive and McCainKs limited resources there is little choice in the direction for the rest of the campaign

If McCain does not immediately fall back into a full defensive posture he has no chance whatsoever of winning

[alcibiades_mystery]

9. PA is as out of play as MI

The GOPers live some fantasy whereby Pennsylvania is a swing state. PA is a blue state, in tight races by 2-3%, most times by 5-8%.

McCain has no chance there. He'll have to drop efforts in PA in order to concentrate on Ohio within the next two weeks.

[WeDidIt]

10. He still has to stay in PA

It's more of a PR move than any hope of winning it

He must remain in a large Kerry state to give the impression that he's still fighting or else his base will become completely demoralized and PA is really the only choice he has for that

[alcibiades_mystery]

11. This is true

[ps1074]

7. Michigan is an expensive state

McCain spent 10 or so million there. It costs close to 1 mill a week to run ads there.

I think McCain did the right thing. He can split this money between WI and MN, forcing Obama to spend more there and hope with some luck to win one or both of them.

He also needs more money now to run ads in IN, VA and NC - states where he had no intention to put money in.

[high density]

13. I'll agree with that statement

The way the "debate" went down last night is not going to change anything.