Judging by the number of commercials I have been seeing on tv, Michigan is definitely a battleground state. Obama has been hitting McCain on the economy, using McCain’s quote from the primary about not knowing as much about the economy as he should. The other Obama attack is predictably trying to tie McCain to Bush, ending with the McCain voting record of 90% matching Bush.

McCain has been hitting back using coastal oil drilling. The emphasis is on how oil and gas prices are hurting the automotive companies as a major employer in Michigan. The commercial criticizes Democrats for blocking oil drilling in the coastal areas. Throughout there is an image of Obama alongside changing images of Democratic leaders such as Pelosi and Reid.

I was most surprised, however, on my drive home from work. Obama is running a very explicitly pro-abortion commercial on the news radio station to which I listen. The spokesperson is a nurse practitioner. She repeats the usual liberal Democratic scare tactics on how Republicans (in this case McCain) wants to take away a woman’s right to choose. So far I have only heard it once and only on the radio. My guess is this is part of their counter strategy to Palin.

Not sure how successful this add will be. On the one hand, Michigan has been known as fairly pro-life in the not-too-distant past. It is blue-collar and so a Reagan Democrat strong hold. On the other hand, the current major politicians are pro-abortion Democrats including the Governor and both Senators.

Has anyone heard any similar ads in other battle-ground states?