President Barack Obama started a two-day swing through Colorado Wednesday while multiple Republican politicians campaigning on behalf of Mitt Romney also made stops in the vital battleground state.
The president will focus on women's issues on the first day of his Colorado trip. The Obama campaign also released a video on the subject Wednesday featuring comedic actress Elizabeth Banks and her personal experience with Planned Parenthood.
"Planned Parenthood is something I care very deeply about. Planned Parenthood was my healthcare provider when I didn't have insurance after graduating from college," Banks says in the video. "I'm really grateful that they exist."
"President Obama has not compromised on women's rights and that's why President Obama needs to stay in office," she added.
The president will speak at the Auraria Event Center in Denver in the late afternoon ET and then will proceed to Grand Junction High School for another speech.
"President Obama will discuss the choice Americans face on Election Day between two fundamentally different visions on how to create an economy built to last - emphasizing his efforts to strengthen both the economic and health security of women and middle-class families," an Obama for American campaign email said Wednesday.
Obama will be introduced at the events by law student Sarah Fluke - now billed as a women's rights advocate after being personally attacked for supporting the president's birth control policies at a Congressional hearing.
But the president will be competing for airtime with multiple Mitt Romney surrogates also slated to speak in the state on Wednesday. Ohio Senator Rob Portman, Colorado Congressman Cory Gardner, former Rep. Bob Beauprez and Colorado GOP Chairman Ryan Call are all scheduled to make appearances at six different events today.
Portman - a possible running mate pick for Romney - and his GOP colleagues will "highlight Governor Romney's plan to strengthen the middle class," the Romney campaign said Tuesday.
Continuing their heavy push on economic issues, the campaign said the men will emphasize the GOP view that "President Obama believes that his plan for economic recovery has 'worked,' but with over 224,000 Coloradans out of work, the growth of the middle class is in jeopardy."
Recent polls show Romney's focus on the economy could be paying off. A joint Quinnipiac/CBS/New York Times poll released Wednesday shows Romney with a five-point lead over the president in Colorado.
Although the same poll shows Obama leading in Wisconsin and Virginia, voters in Colorado are looking at the economy in a different light, Quinnipiac University polling center assistant director Peter A. Brown said in a press release.
"There is a difference in how voters think the election returns will affect their wallets," Brown added. "In Colorado and Wisconsin, more voters think Gov. Mitt Romney's policies rather than President Barack Obama's policies will help them personally. At the same time, more voters in each state think Obama's policies will hurt them more than Romney's policies."
Reflecting the tightness of the race in Colorado, however, the latest batch of polls has shown mixed results for the state.
A recent Public Policy Polling survey showed Obama leading Romney by 49 percent to 43 percent in Colorado, while a separate Rasmussen Reports poll showed a tie.
The president will focus more on the economy during his second day in the state tomorrow. On that day, he will campaign in Pueblo and Colorado Springs before returning to Washington, D.C.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.