McCain gives up on Michigan. Michigan is a perpetual swing state. Where else can he play? Wisconsin (where some of those folks are moving) doesn't look much closer according to 538, New Hampshire is looking irrelevant these days, and Pennsylvania is even more hopeless than Michigan. McCain is mostly moving staff to Ohio and Florida. So, basically, he's playing defense, and he's pretty much admitting he isn't going to win any Kerry or Gore states, as Michigan was his best chance (New Hampshire, inexplicably, looks still within reach).
Think about it: Obama will win all the Gore states without much in the way of opposition. All he's got to do is win Florida or North Carolina or Ohio or Colorado and New Hampshire, all states where he currently leads. Or he can win states where he's effectively tied, like Missouri or Indiana. McCain has to win every single one to win.
It's hard to overstate the importance of this. For much of this cycle, Michigan looked like McCain's best pickup opportunity. Now it's off the table. Obama will win there by double digits.
