July 09, 2012 09:45 PM UTC

Bling Tour It Is--Romney Abandons Springs "Wildfire Rally"

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• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: AP’s Kristen Wyatt reports on Romney’s avoidance of the Denver area:

So far, Mitt Romney is taking an unexpected approach to campaigning in the battleground presidential state of Colorado…

Romney hasn’t been to the Denver area since clinching the Republican presidential nomination. Instead, he is visiting lightly populated parts of the state where he is likely to encounter friendly crowds.

Is Romney avoiding the suburban Denver independent voters who could make the difference in November? Or is he wisely firing up the base in a state where conservative Republicans handed him an unexpected defeat in presidential caucuses?

Neither of those sound very positive, do they?

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ABC News’ Josh Haskell:

After a week vacationing in New Hampshire, Mitt Romney headed back to the fundraising circuit Sunday appearing with his wife Ann at three private residences in the Hamptons.

One of the high-dollar events was held at the shorefront estate of billionaire David Koch, whose Southampton compound was tightly secured in part because of roughly 150 protesters in the area…

The Koch fundraiser cost $50,000 a person to attend, $75,000 per couple. One of the protesters on an adjacent street to the property held a sign that read “Your $50,000 ticket = My yearly salary.”

From the Long Island Hamptons to equally-glitzy if more remote Aspen, local reporter Sandra Fish writes for the Washington Post:

The Daily News noted that the hosts, Susan Crown and William Kunkler, are on the opposite side of Crown’s brother Jim Crown, one of President Barack Obama’s campaign bundlers. Jim Crown also hosted First Lady Michelle Obama and the Obama daughters on a ski vacation.

Romney will spend the night in Aspen (more mountains, fewer yachts than the Hamptons or New Hampshire), then hold a rally in Grand Junction on Tuesday morning. Mesa County  is a traditionally GOP county, with almost 49 percent of active voters registered Republicans as of June, and fewer Democrats than unaffiliated voters.

The Denver Post reported that the presumptive GOP nominee might add a second stop, and some are wondering if he’d fly into Colorado Springs, home to the state’s worst wildfire ever…

The word today is that Mitt Romney’s campaign will not be holding a “wildfire themed” campaign rally in Colorado Springs Wednesday, and tomorrow’s event in Grand Junction may steer clear of the subject of our recent wildfires and focus on energy instead. After today’s fundraising events in Aspen, Romney will hold his town hall in Junction Tuesday, and then out–once again avoiding both the pivotal Denver metropolitan area and populated regions of the state in general.

There are a few theories about Romney’s abandonment of a widely-rumored campaign stop in Colorado Springs. We’ve heard credibly that it really might be a political consideration–based on blowback potential over statements Romney has made in favor of “cutting back” on firefighters. Romney campaign will never admit to that, of course, but we’re told an energetic response to any Romney event in the fire-ravaged Springs was in the planning stages.

The “bling tour” press from the Hamptons this weekend wasn’t great, and Aspen keeps that meme going–but as we’ve said, a hypocritical grandstand would have been much worse.