Throughout the 2012 presidential campaign across Colorado, former U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez routinely stumped for Republican nominee Mitt Romney, and this week the former Massachusetts governor returned the favor, rallying a crowd of supporters on Monday at Heritage High School in Littleton for Beauprez and the GOP ticket in the state.

Charging that Gov. John Hickenlooper, the Democratic incumbent, is the one governor who “stands out for indecisiveness,” Romney called on Colorado voters to “elect a person who knows what it takes to make a decision and stick by the decision and do what’s right by the people of Colorado” as he introduced Beauprez.

“This is going to be a great governor,” a buoyant Romney said as Beauprez and his wife, Claudia, took to the stage. “Colorado’s going to be proud of this great governor.”Romney lost Colorado by 5 points to President Barack Obama, but recent polls show that the incumbent’s support has taken a nosedive in the state, and speakers at the rally made a point of tying Democratic candidates to the unpopular president.

U.S. Rep. Cory Gardner, challenging Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Udall, said that enthusiastic conservative voters can put Beauprez in the governor’s office and send Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid packing in just over a month when ballots are counted.

“We can start by making sure we remind Mark Udall that he has spent his time in office rubber-stamping the failed agenda of Barack Obama,” Gardner said. “He’s a person who has voted 99 percent of the time with Barack Obama,” Gardner continued, blaming Udall for casting “a deciding vote” on Obamacare and voting to increase taxes and debt.

“Are you ready for new, strong leadership?” Beauprez’s running mate, lieutenant governor candidate Jill Repella asked the crowd. She then called Hickenlooper, Udall and Obama “weak men with bad ideas,” adding that she’s “tired of it.”

introducing Romney, Repella praised the former governor for his skill growing the economy and turning around the 2002 Winter Olympics and asked, “How about a new president in two years?”

Chatter has swirled in recent days that Romney is considering a third run for president in 2016, and Repella wasn’t the only one at the rally who sounded like they thought he should throw his hat in the ring again.

Beauprez – who regaled crowds of Romney supporters two years ago with stories about riding on the presidential candidate’s campaign bus through Iowa – suggested that Colorado voters might have some buyer’s remorse.

“The world would be a better place, America would be better off, freedom would be better protected if Romney were president,” Beauprez said.

In addition to toasting the local candidates, Romney slammed Obama for letting ISIS run rampant in the Middle East and faulted the incumbent for failing to foresee the Islamic insurgency’s emergence.

“I guess he was busy doing other things — vacations, golf, fundraising,” Romney said to laughter from the crowd. “His signature achievement was Obamacare, and he couldn’t even get that installed properly.”

Saying everything but “I told ya so,” Romney rained down more criticism on Obama.“At the beginning of his administration, he went around the world, and a lot of us said that what he did was apologize for America. I think it’s now time for him to apologize to America,” Romney said.

It wasn’t all red meat and attacks on Democratic incumbents.

Saying that it’s time Colorado improved declining literacy rates, Beauprez said that Claudia — “Wouldn’t she make a great first lady?” he asked with delight — plans to start a nonprofit organization dedicated to delivering a book once a month to every preschool-age child in the state, “Sending the strong message: Mom and dad, read to your children.”But it was mostly red meat and attacks on Democratic incumbents.

“Colorado deserves a leader who will lead with his heart and with his soul, not someone who will stand and follow from behind with his finger in the air,” said radio personality and past congressional candidate Jeff Crank, who fired up the crowd after a choir sang patriotic tunes.

“I want a governor, quite frankly, who will challenge the current occupant of the White House, not someone who will play pool with him,” Crank continued, referring to an Obama visit earlier this summer when the President joined Hickenlooper for a game of pool at the Lower Downtown brewpub founded by the governor.

Other candidates who spoke briefly at the rally included U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, seeking a fourth term in the 6th Congressional District; his wife, Cynthia Coffman, running for attorney general; El Paso County Clerk and Recorder Wayne Williams, a secretary of state candidate; and Don Ytterberg, running in the 7th CD.

After the rally, Romney headlined a nearby, closed fundraiser for Beauprez and a Colorado Republican victory fund, attended by 130 donors, according to an organizer of the event.A sudden downpour – punctuated with tornado warnings in south-metro suburbs and blankets of hail pelting nearby neighborhoods – might have dampened attendance at the rally, which counted more than 1,200 RSVPs, campaign organizers said. Even as the storm raged outside, several hundred spirited supporters shook the rafters of the gymnasium, where a sign proclaimed the school’s official cheer: “Go Big Red!”

Among the crowd was Rocky, the mascot of the Denver Nuggets basketball team, who showed up with two handlers, posed for snapshots with Republicans and cavorted on stage before the politicians started the program. (The Denver Post reported that the mascot’s appearance at the rally was “unsanctioned” and that team officials weren’t happy about it.)

Democrats mocked the visit, calling Romney and Beauprez “practically identical twins” and attempting to throw a spotlight on the videotaped “47 percent” comments made by both Republicans.

“Both made millions by playing by the Wall Street rules that drove millions into bankruptcy, both think 47 percent of Coloradans are freeloaders who are ‘perfectly happy’ that someone else is paying the bill,” said Colorado Democratic Party Chairman Rick Palacio in a statement. “They’re both wrong on immigration issues, women’s issues and their philosophies on governing are simplistic, unrealistic, divisive and dangerous for Colorado’s families and small businesses.”

His counterpart, Colorado GOP Chairman Ryan Call, brushed off questions about another Romney presidential bid, saying that his mind was on the November election.

“With just 36 days to go, we’ve got a lot to be working on,” Call told The Colorado Statesman. “We’ve made dramatic investments in data technology, the field operations, the get-out-the-vote infrastructure is really impressive for a midterm. Being able to position that infrastructure and add to that candidates that inspire such confidence — Bob Beauprez, Cory Gardner, the entire Republican team — is what’s going to give us momentum toward victory in November.”

— Ernest@coloradostatesman.com