Romney Super PAC Spending Nearly Half a Million in Michigan

The New York Times reports that the pro-Mitt Romney super PAC, Restore Our Future, is spending almost $500,000 on new television ads in Michigan. The ads will focus on Romney's GOP rival Newt Gingrich, even though Rick Santorum looks to be a bigger threat to Romney in Michigan's February 28 primary. Here's more from the Times:

According to someone who tracks Republican media spending, Restore Our Future has committed just over $470,000 for commercials starting Tuesday and set to run through Feb. 20. That marks the group’s largest purchase yet in Michigan, where it has already spent more than $700,000 on ads.

The group said Monday that it will continue for now to air an ad called “Risk” that targets Newt Gingrich using images and attacks that have by now become familiar advertising fodder. It cites the proliferation of earmarks during his tenure as House speaker and shows a shot of him sitting with Nancy Pelosi on a couch in front of the Capitol, a shot taken from a public service announcement on global warming.

Romney, who was born in Detroit and grew up in Michigan, where his father was a businessman and later became governor, has long been expected to win in his home state. But victories in Missouri, Minnesota, and Colorado last week seem to have given Santorum enough momentum to make the primary there competitive. Santorum himself told George Stephanopoulos on ABC's This Week that his campaign will be spending "a lot of time" in both Michigan and Arizona, which also has its primary on February 28.