Alex Roarty writes at National Journal that conservative groups and the GOP are taking the fight to POTUS:
Just this week, as the president has been touting his energy policy in the swing states of Ohio, New Mexico, and Nevada, Crossroads GPS, the nonprofit arm of the conservative outside group American Crossroads, made a six-figure ad buy blasting Obama over high gas prices. Earlier in the week, the Republican National Committee began airing TV ads in six swing states criticizing Obama on the anniversary of his 2010 health care law – part of a spate of events the group plans to tie Obama to his most significant legislative achievement.
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Republican preparations could be critical in this election. Already, Obama has built his own massive ground game across an array of key battleground states, an effort officials with his campaign say could carry the president to victory in the fall. Romney, meanwhile, has not had the resources or time to develop a general-election infrastructure while fending off rivals Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich throughout the winter and into the spring.
But RNC officials say they have diligently built a nationwide network of fundraisers and volunteers that the eventual nominee can activate the moment the primary ends. It’s part of an effort the committee has made during the last year to take the president to task while the party chooses its standard-bearer for the fall.
The party’s organization is far ahead of where it was in 2008, according to RNC spokesman Sean Spicer, who disputed the notion the GOP nominee will have a lot of ground to make up because of the ongoing primary season. “What are you basing that off of?” Spicer asked. “The problem is, while that’s a great narrative, the facts don’t back it up
