Yeah, I agree with the e cost Google mostly because spy and Skuttle don't broadcast themselves well. Skuttle especially though is really not very good vs commpush (But if it was, its kind of an ugly way to lose a com!). I think spy is well balanced because you still have to beat his army with yours- the only time its really good is comm wars, where it serves you right.
You are just going to lose a Comm or two in a big team game if you push with them. Chose a base comm and don't morph him. Keep him somewhere you can reclaim him if he dies and have other sources of E and BP.
Mandatory is probably wrong, but you HAVE to factor air into your strategy.
If you want to run support but not play Air, try Tanks. It is quite possible to do an early reaper rush, which can snipe coms and plow through defense (but needs riot or raider support vs enemy raiders). The Reapers HP can shrug off a few early bombers, and you can get out a flak (and if you like, Banishers, which do hit bombers) once he builds up enough bombers to be a nuisance. Once you have enough AA, you can even start fielding Arty (Doing it too early is asking for a snipe though). Tank cons also take 1 bomber hits, allowing you to easily secure any territorial gains without ever commpushing. Hell, i often go pure tank con when I play tank, and basically use them like a naked commpush. Surge forward and only dig in with static-d when you encounter opposition you cant laser or defender war to death (this often gives you at least 60% of the map). It works just like a commpush but can't be bombed effectively.
Another good support and air counter strategy is moderators. You can use the factory to raid with pyros or jack rush too (again, Jack shrugs off early bombers and com snipes well), but Moderators themselves actually work best when combined with skirmishers like recluses, hammers, rogues, etc, so work with an ally. Moderators massively increase the effectiveness of AA, allowing you to take out bombers with mobile AA rather than relying on hacksaws, and thus keep pushing.
Edit: Oh one I forgot, is Shield + Felon push. Felon snipes planes really fast, and while the shield wont help, the Felon can survive 1 bomber hit with just its HP, and the shield can tank anything else in the area. Keep your comm in the shield too, repair the felon, and you are free to push and take territory. Felon is just great against everything, raiders, skirms, riots. It can't afford to push too hard against concerted opposition or it runs out of power, but early on there just isn't enough on the map to drain it dry. If he knows what he is doing he will put down pop-ups and mass assaults, but by the time he does this you'll have more than enough territory since you're commpushing and can transition into a midgame strategy (Which can just be more felons and shields as long as its working :). It probably isn't actually a good counter to Bombers at 620 cost (1100 with the shield), but it is one of those few units that is effective vs land and air, and he will at least need to snipe the felon before he can bring down the comm.
Will you lose comms with these kinds of strategies? Probably. But you'll be barreling down his throat with a strong mobile force which is immune to his bombers, so you have a good chance of at least taking enough territory to get the wrecks and put you in a strong position (And since you have no air, he wont have AA, putting you into a perfect place for a midgame transition into air to bust that wall once all the defenses are up- hey, I said it was a strategy where you didn't START air...).
