McCain pulls team out of Michigan

John McCain has seen his support ebb in Michigan in recent weeks

Republican US presidential candidate John McCain has pulled his staff out of Michigan, conceding a key battleground state to Democrat rival Barack Obama.

The campaign team said it would stop advertising in the state, and Mr McCain cancelled a planned visit next week.

Campaign officials said they wanted to concentrate on states he had a better chance of winning.

But analysts say it is a blow to the McCain camp, which had fought hard to return the state to the Republicans.

The overall environment we face is probably the worst environment for any Republican in 35 years Mike DuHaime, political director, McCain campaign US elections: Battleground map

The Democrats won the state only narrowly at the last election, and Mr McCain had a strong showing in polls early in the campaign.

But in recent weeks, Mr Obama has come close to having a double-digit lead over his Republican rival in the industrial state.

Re-focus resources

The scale-back was announced by the McCain campaign team on the day of the vice-presidential debate.

Political director Mike DuHaime said it was inevitable that Mr McCain would have to give up on some states and concentrate on others.

"The overall environment we face is probably the worst environment for any Republican in 35 years, and any time you have that, you have states that will move," he said.

Recent polls have shown Mr Obama pull ahead of Mr McCain in some key battleground states, and has become competitive in others that were seen as likely to vote for Senator McCain - such as Indiana, North Carolina, and Missouri.

Analysts say the latest developments in the financial crisis have worked against Mr McCain, who acknowledges the economy is not his strongest subject.

The decision to concede Michigan - the first such move in the hard-fought campaign - has alarmed some Republicans, who think it effectively makes it easier for Mr Obama to get the 270 electoral votes he needs to win.

But the McCain team insists it is still in a strong position, saying it would re-focus its resources in other key battleground states.

In particular, it would aggressively target voters in marginal states such as Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Iowa.

"We feel very confident in terms of where we're going," Mr DuHaime told reporters.

"Generally, a Democrat who is successful in a state such as we're talking about is a centrist Democrat, and Senator Obama is not a centrist candidate by any objective measurement."

Key changes in battleground state ratings: According to the Real Clear Politics website, which compiles state-level election polls, Obama is now leading in the toss-up states of Ohio, Virginia, Florida, North Carolina and Colorado, while McCain is ahead in Indiana and Missouri. Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania are all rated as leaning Obama, which indicates a polling lead of over 5%.