John Sidney McCain III: Out of Money

To paraphrase a certain former Secretary of Defense: "You go through the last two weeks of the election with the ad buys you have, not the ones you might want."

Who would have thought the Republican nominee for President would be flat broke going into the homestretch of the Presidential campaign? But, according to the Associated Press, John Sidney McCain III is just that.

The AP is reporting that according to his campaign's pre-general election report (which runs until October 15th) that after his outstanding debts McCain only has around $24 million left in the bank. Furthermore, through their rather conservative projections they estimate that as of this writing that number is now closer to $12 million (no word on Obama's current cash on hand take yet, but it's expected to be exponentially higher). No wonder he's trimming and even drastically cutting ad buys across the board in states he must win. The decision to take public financing, even his former aides such as Bob Shrum admit, ruined John Kerry's chances in 2004 (their decision to take public financing made them unable to counter the Swift Boat attacks); and they seem to have put a real damper of John Sidney McCain's chances as well.

Keep in mind that McCain is still relying heavily on RNC ad money to keep him visible on the air, but he still is in a tough situation financially speaking, as those ads are not subject to the same discounts from TV stations as candidate ads are. Also, look for the RNC to divert money to key Senate and House races in the coming days.

No wonder McCain's top aides are already quite literally updating their resumes.

Make sure Barack Obama and Senate Democrats have the funds they need to make it through election day.

McCain Abandons Michigan

Jonathan Martin, writing for Politico.com today, reports that the McCain-Palin campaign is pulling out of Michigan. Martin says that the Republican presidential ticket will end television advertising, stop all direct mail and relocate its paid staff to more competitive states. A campaign event scheduled for next week in Plymouth MI has also been cancelled.

Once considered competitive by key Republican strategists, Michigan has moved steadily into safer and safer territory for the Obama-Biden team in recent weeks. Polls over the past two weeks have given the Democrats anywhere from a seven to ten point lead. Senator John Kerry won Michigan in 2004 by three points, 51% to 48%, over George W. Bush. Then Vice-President Al Gore bested Bush in Michigan in the 2000 election by five points, 51%-46% (third party candidates got 3% of Michiganders' votes in 2000).

The abandonment of a serious effort in Michigan further complicates an increasingly difficult challenge for the McCain campaign to garner the necessary 270 electoral votes for a victory on Nov. 4th. Now more than ever, both Florida and Ohio have become must-wins for the GOP ticket.