CHARLOTTE -- If ad strategies are any guide, things look pretty good for President Obama right now in Pennsylvania and Michigan.

Republican candidate Mitt Romney and conservative groups that back him aren't running ads in those big states, which GOP aides have had high hopes for, according to local news reports.

Instead, the Republican challenger and allies are focusing on other battleground states, all of which President Obama won in 2008: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin.

Romney must a take a large chunk of those states if he is to topple Obama in the Nov. 6 election.

As for Pennsylvania, the Associated Press reports that the Romney campaign last advertised there "in the first half of April, when Romney was still competing for the GOP's nomination with former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum."

Crossroads GPS, a conservative group led by former president George W. Bush strategist Karl Rove, also isn't on the air in Pennsylvania. "For our current buy, Pennsylvania is not part of our strategy," said Jonathan Collegio, a spokesman for Crossroads GPS, according to the AP. "That could change as the dynamics change."

Meanwhile, the Detroit News reports that "Mitt Romney's conservative allies are bypassing Michigan with their advertising while stepping up efforts in other battleground states -- suggesting campaign strategists don't believe his road to the White House leads through his native state."

The News notes: