McCain out of Michigan

John McCain's campaign confirmed it has pulled out of the battleground state of Michigan, but said a winnable path is still very much available to them.

The McCain said it campaigned in Michigan to "spread the field" against Democratic rival Barack Obama and force the Illinois senator to use resources there that they might have been able to use elsewhere. Obama campaigned in Lansing earlier Thursday.

{mosads}A McCain spokesman said that if the campaign is able to hold onto Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, Virginia, Indiana, and Ohio — which have favored Republicans in recent presidential contests — they will have a good base to work with in the Electoral College. The campaign said it would only need to pick up an additional 10 electoral votes from Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Wisconsin, or Pennsylvania to get the 270 electoral votes needed to win.

The latest Real Clear Politics poll average showed Obama winning Michigan by 7 points.

The Obama campaign stressed the state’s importance.

“We will continue to fight for every vote in Michigan because middle class families there just cannot afford more of the same,” Obama spokesman Nick Shapiro said.

Frankly, we have an easier map than Obama," the McCain spokesman said. "He’s on the defense."