In a major concession, John McCain decided to abandon campaign efforts in Michigan, pull advertising, cancel scheduled campaign visits and reassign staffers to other battleground states.

A GOP official told The Associated Press the campaign made the decision Wednesday night and passed on the withdrawal orders to staffers yesterday, after which the Republican presidential nominee’s campaign confirmed the decision to withdraw from the battleground state.

"Operations will be scaled back," said Mike DuHaime, the campaign's political director.

The decision marked the first time either McCain or his Democratic rival, Barack Obama, has tacitly conceded a traditional battleground state in the race for the White House.

McCain's campaign was spending $1 million a week in Michigan, which holds 17 electoral votes, and will now divert those resources to other states.

The campaign made the decision Wednesday night, as polls showed the Democratic nominee increasing his lead over McCain. A poll released last week by the Detroit Free Press and conducted by Selzer & Co. showed Obama with a 13-point lead in Michigan.

Brady Smith, chair of the University’s chapter of College Republicans, said the move marks a new strategy for the state.

“It’s going to rely on people who are passionate for John McCain,” Smith said.

Smith said he saw the move to “stragetically redeploy” resources as smart, adding that the decision doesn't represent a lack of concern for the state.

“John McCain cares about the state of Michigan,” Smith said. “That’s why he made it such an important state after the convention.”

Political Science Prof. Michael Traugott said McCain’s move to reallocate resources shows he’s admitting defeat in the state, but looking to other states to win the 270 electoral votes necessary for the presidency.

“In John McCain’s case, he has somewhat more limited resources than Barack Obama,” Traugott said. “They feel as though they have a better chance of winning electoral votes in some other states than Michigan, and that’s where they should spend the money in advertising.”

In a campaign now unfolding across more than a dozen states, the decision means Obama can shift money to other states like Virginia, Colorado and North Carolina, where he is trying to eat into traditional Republican territory. McCain's resources will be sent to Ohio, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Florida and other more competitive states, and aides said he would try to put Maine into play as well.

By pulling out of vote-rich Michigan, McCain conceded a large part of the electoral map in the heart of the industrial Midwest.

The move underscored McCain's troubles on the economy, which he has acknowledged is not his strongest subject. It also underscored his struggle to beat an opponent who has the money to compete in many states President Bush won four years ago. Polls show Obama has pulled ahead or tied McCain in many of those states.

Along with giving up Michigan, McCain's campaign said it is opening a front in Maine, which Kerry won four years ago and which offers four electoral votes allocated between the statewide winner and the winner in its two congressional districts. The Arizona senator's campaign checked advertising rates in media markets there this week.

Obama already has abandoned efforts in Alaska, Georgia and North Dakota, but the Democrat has succeeded in making traditional Republican strongholds Indiana, North Carolina and Virginia competitive.