Republicans hit Obama in new TV ad, Spanish radio spots in Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado

The Republican Party is taking aim at President Barack Obama in a new TV ad (see below) and Spanish-language radio spots to run in Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado.

It's all part of the Republican National Committee's effort to swing Southwestern states that went for Obama in 2008 back into the GOP winning column in 2012.

The new TV ad launched Wednesday is the RNC's third in a series during a month-long campaign urging voters to "change direction" by rejecting Obama and his economic policies.

"We can't afford four more years of Barack Obama," says the 30-second TV ad.

The campaign criticizes Obama for higher taxes, 2.5 million lost jobs and a record U.S. deficit and national debt about ready to explode its $14.3 trillion cap.

"The RNC is ready to take the fight to the states where President Obama's economic policies are stifling job creation and putting recovery on hold," said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus. "Each of these states is suffering from high unemployment -- 6.9 percent in New Mexico, 8.7 percent in Colorado and a staggering 12.1 percent in Nevada -- because President Obama has been unable to deliver on promises to turn the economy around."

Obama has argued he inherited a crashing economy when he took office in 2009 and that his economic policies have helped to save jobs and avoid another Great Depression.

The RNC's Political Director Rick Wiley said Republicans were targeting Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado because their 20 total electoral votes represent one-third of the states Obama took from Bush's win column in 2008. The GOP also notes that Nevada and New Mexico both elected popular Hispanic governors in 2010 -- Brian Sandoval and Susana Martinez -- who are helping to win back some Latinos who haven't been happy with Obama's jobs and economic record. Colorado has a Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper. But he has worried aloud whether Obama can win his state again in 2012, saying earlier in July, "I think it'd be a very close battle. He'd have a hard time."

Wiley, in a memo, said Hispanic voters are "a key part of the electorate" in all three states and could swing the outcome. The RNC said estimates show Latino voters account for 42 percent of the New Mexico electorate, 17 percent of Nevada's and 13 percent of Colorado's.

"Obama comfortably won the Hispanic vote in 2008, but wide margins in 2012 are at this point far from a certainty," Wiley wrote in the memo.

Wiley noted that nationwide the Hispanic unemployment rate is at 11.6 percent, more than two points higher than the national average.

Wiley quoted Obama adviser David Axelrod as saying the president needs to win the Southwest battleground states such as Nevada to win re-election.