Republicans shuffle advertising priorities

The number of battleground states in the US election is shrinking, with Mitt Romney and outside groups backing the Republican presidential candidate shunning large investments in Michigan and Pennsylvania, which they had once hoped to win, in favor of other states where they are more competitive.

The decision to not invest heavily in ads in those states could enable the Republicans to devote more resources to must-win Ohio and Florida, intensifying the battle over the states that will probably determine the outcome of November’s poll. Crossroads GPS, a conservative political group that supports Romney, said it was not running ads in Pennsylvania and in Michigan, where Romney was born but where his stance on the auto industry bailout has been unpopular. The President carried both states in 2008 and they still favor him now. According to the Real Clear Politics average of polls, President Obama is leading Romney in Pennsylvania and Michigan by 7.7 percentage points and 2.4 points respectively. The Romney campaign had hoped to make inroads in both states. But campaign officials now say they are turning their focus to New Hampshire and Wisconsin, Ryan’s home state.