Nationwide polling is showing Obama with a massive lead in swing states. If the election were held today, assuming closet racists don’t prove the Bradley effect to be true, Obama would win with 353 electoral votes to McCain’s 185. States, like Michigan, that several weeks ago appeared to be on the fence, no longer are. According to the most recent polling data I’ve seen, Obama now leads in the Great Lakes State by 7%.

And McCain is reacting like you would expect him to. Instead of staying and fighting, he’s pulling out of Michigan and focusing his resources elsewhere. According to the “New York Times” Caucus Blog, “Republican officials said that polling suggested that Mr. Obama was building a lead there, and said they concluded that it wasn’t worth spending any more campaign funds – or Mr. McCain’s time – in the state.”

So, McCain won’t be showing up in Plymouth later in the week, as he’d been scheduled to, and we won’t be seeing his face anymore in local TV ads. But Obama’s Campaign for Change isn’t letting up here. They’re still out there, trying to get as many new voters registered prior to next Monday’s deadline as possible. They’ve even arranged to bring Bruce Springsteen to Ypsilanti, where he’ll play an acoustic set on Monday at 3:00 PM for 5,000 Eastern Michigan University students at a voter registration drive… effectively driving the wooden stake into the heart of McCain’s Michigan campaign once and for all.

[This post also appears, somewhat edited, at the Michigan Messenger.]