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Pro-Romney Groups Shift Focus to Colorado, the West [UPDATED]

Kirk Siegler

Some well-funded Pro-Mitt Romney conservative groups are pulling their TV ad dollars out of Pennsylvania and Michigan and doubling down on efforts in what they consider to be more crucial swing states; such as Iowa, Nevada and Colorado.

Those are states where President Obama has also been spending considerable time lately, but where he’s widely seen to have been outspent by Gov. Romney and conservative groups like Karl Rove's Super PAC American Crossroads and the non profit advocacy group Americans for Prosperity, funded by billionaire oil brothers Charles and David Koch. 

Now, Americans for Prosperity is pouring some $6 million into TV ads and social media campaigns in states like Colorado.  American Crossroads is devoting a similar amount, according to the Associated Press

"It doesn’t mean that you wouldn’t go back there at some point soon," AFP president Tim Phillips told KUNC. "Dollars are not endless, you have to make sure that every dollar you spend is in a place where it’ll make a difference."

Phillips predicts the situation will be much less fluid in Colorado, though, where he says his group expects to run ads until the election.

"This part of the country, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, they’ve been hit pretty hard and they haven’t seen the results from the President’s policies," he says. "We think there is enormous opportunity here."

Phillips’ group isn’t just on the airwaves. AFP has also brought its so-called “Failing Agenda” bus tour to cities from Loveland to Colorado Springs this week; highlighting what the group says is President Obama’s failed economic and domestic energy policy.

Editor's Note: This article has been updated to identify Americans for Prosperity as a non-profit issue advocacy group, AFP does not specifically endorse any candidate.

Kirk Siegler reports for NPR, based out of NPR West in California.
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