GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is in the midst of a two-day campaign visit to Colorado; part of a swing through key battleground states as his campaign tries to refocus attention on the economy and away from controversial statements he made at a fundraiser that surfaced in a video last week.
Romney has a noon hour rally scheduled Monday in Pueblo. Sunday night, he spoke to a friendly crowd on a high school football field in the south Denver suburbs, where he made a plea to several thousand supporters at the rally to get out and campaign on his behalf.
"We鈥檝e got that work to do and this is the state to do it," Romney said. "I鈥檓 counting on Colorado, this is the state that could get us the electoral votes to win this."
Romney went on to take aim at President Obama on and his and . He accused President Obama of trying to restrict drilling on federal public lands.
"I鈥檒l make sure we drill on the outer continental shelf and drill in Alaska," Romney said. "And I鈥檒l bring in and keep that oil from going to China."
The Obama Campaign likes to point out that during the current administration, due in part to a drilling boom on private land. President Obama has spent considerably more time campaigning in Colorado than Mitt Romney lately, and recent polls have shown the president's narrow lead here starting to widen some.
Late Sunday the Romney campaign announced his running mate Paul Ryan would also return to the state later this week, with stops scheduled in Fort Collins and Colorado Springs.
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