The Obama campaign today announced Barack Obama would head to Michigan tomorrow - a move that only a frontrunner could make on the night of the West Virginia primary. While Hillary Clinton will likely celebrate her victory in the Mountaineer State, Barack Obama is traveling to Missouri and Michigan, states that held their primaries on February 5th and January 15th respectively. Obama will spend Wednesday on the stump in Michigan.

Of course Obama won Missouri and did not contend in Michigan as no delegates were at stake due to a punishment handed down by the DNC. Hillary Clinton carried the illegitimate primary, whose results have not factored into the heated race, and remains one of the reasons why she has yet to concede.

After Tuesday there will be five contests remaining in the Democratic nomination. The Obama campaign vows to campaign in each of the remaining states, but noted in a statement today, “Our schedule reflects the fact that we are still fighting for votes and delegates in the remaining contests but also that we are going to places that are going to be competitive in the fall. John McCain has gone unchallenged for far too long and we’re going to make sure that voters in competitive states know the choice in this election between changing Washington and the third term of George Bush’s failed policies that McCain is offering.”

And while Barack Obama himself has said this nomination is not over, his campaign is beginning to morph into general election mode. “Obviously we also don’t want to wake up on the morning of June 4th or June 10th or whenever this is going to end and not be prepared, so we’re going to do the things we can in our off hours,” Campaign Manager David Plouffe told reporters on a conference call last week. At the time it wasn’t clear “off hours” would mean prior to the campaign sealing the Democratic deal.

One of the “silver linings” to this long, drawn out campaign, Plouffe says, is that they have an organization in most states which will better ready Democrats to take McCain on in the general election. But Obama did not campaign in Florida or Michigan. “I think Florida is one state where we’ve probably suffered the most from lack of campaign activity compared to the rest of the country,” Plouffe observed on last week’s conference call. Which may be why Obama is scheduled to campaign in the Sunshine State on May 21st and 22nd – just one day after the candidate is expected to have accumulated the majority of delegates at stake in the nomination.

On Obama’s travel plans, a spokesman for the RNC responded today by noting, “Barack Obama can travel wherever he wants, but it won’t make his calls for higher taxes, restricted gun rights, and proposed meetings with state sponsors of terrorism any more appealing. Wherever Obama takes his flawed message, voters will learn more about the weak leadership he has demonstrated on important issues confronting the nation.”