Obama’s latest CO visit goes to fiery battleground

DENVER (AP) — President Barack Obama can be accused of a preaching-to-the-choir campaign style in Colorado this year. He’s campaigned three times at college campuses, where students give him a boisterous welcome.

Obama changes course this week with a visit to Golden, just west of Denver. It’s in Jefferson County, perhaps the most intense battleground in Colorado. It’s a vote-rich county of aging suburbs and sprawling mountain mansions. For a long time the county voted for Republicans, choosing former President George W. Bush over Democrat John Kerry in 2004. Four years later, Jefferson changed course and voted heavily for Obama.

Republicans say the key to success in Colorado could be winning back “Jeffco.” Republicans Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have both visited recently. Obama’s visit signals Democrats plan to hang on here.