Bye bye Michigan

Politics is just like baseball. Some people show up to eat ice-cream and do the wave (which my brother loves) and some people show up to watch the game within the game. They pay attention to the pitch count, the defensive shifts in the outfield, and appreciate a hitter who can foul off bad pitches. This week in politics was akin to watching a fascinating but low scoring baseball game while people in the stands were bouncing around a beach ball and screaming at the outfielder 400 feet away. The fans in the stands who love the wave were frothing this week over Palin and the debate and were looking forward to this one the way a cub fan looks forward to next year. But the real political fans were looking to the great state of Michigan. John Kerry won Michigan by three percentage points in 2004 and yesterday McCain pulled up stakes and ceded the state to Obama. This is a real turning point in the campaign, not the winking sideshow farce that was presented to the American public last night. Here is why McCain quitting in Michigan is such a big deal:

1. Michigan has 27% or registered independents. If the internal polls in Michigan show 70-80% of the independents breaking to Obama get ready to call him Mr. President.
2. McCain is pulling his T.V. ads in Michigan. Television is the most effective way to communicate with your audience. If he is pulling T.V. he is in trouble EVERYWHERE!
3. If you quit in state where Kerry won by only 3 points you are in serious trouble.
4. There will be no October surprise. If all that team Clinton could come up with was Obama's pastor saying bad things about America, there is nothing there.
5. McCain will become increasingly more desperate and erratic as his polls continue to slide.
6. More real Republicans will continue to point out the McCains decision to put Palin on the ticket was selfish and reckless. Thank God we have honest people such as George Will, Peggy Noonan, Bush speech writer David Frum, conservative intellectual Farid Zakaria and many more who can give their honest opinion.

It's over folks, oh, here comes the wave!