Ambinder reports Republican sources in the state and Washington have told him the NRSC “plans to pull out of the state by next week, an acknowledgment that its independent expenditure resources would be better spent on defense elsewhere.”

The pull-out leaves Schaffer mostly to fend for himself against increasingly long odds after two 527 groups — Freedom’s Watch and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — announced plans to abandon the former Republican congressman earlier this week.

Freedom Watch, fronted by former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer and funded by Las Vegas casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson, planned to pour as much as $250 million into electioneering ads this year.

The Denver Post reported on Tuesday the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Freedom’s Watch have ditched Schaffer after spending almost $2 million during the last two weeks of September. The two groups are reallocating their spending to help protect Republican incumbents in Oregon and North Carolina, the Post reported. A spokesman for the U.S. Chamber told Politicker CO the organization wasn’t pulling out and intends to advertise again in the state before the election.

Most recent polls show Udall trouncing Schaffer by 14 points in the race to replace retiring Republican Sen. Wayne Allard. Udall has consistently led Schaffer since early this year, according to tracking by Pollster.com.

The NRSC pulled its support on Wednesday from the Louisiana Senate race, citing increased threats to incumbent Republican senators only recently considered safe.

Spending more than $2 million in recent weeks, the NRSC has pounded the airwaves with a series of brutal attack ads portraying a grimacing, scowling Udall. At a recent debate, Udall said a woman came up to him at a campaign event and said she was surprised he wasn’t as ugly as he was on TV, referring to the NRSC depictions.

“When will Bob Schaffer’s front groups realize they are wasting millions of dollars in dishonest and mean-spirited attack ads against Mark Udall?,” Udall spokesperson Tara Trujillo said in an e-mail to the Colorado Independent Friday morning. “Bob underestimates Coloradans who are independent-minded voters and know that Mark Udall is on their side.”

In addition to the Western Skies Coalition, Colorado Ethics Watch is seeking an investigation into the American Future Fund, Coloradans for Economic Growth and Freedom’s Watch. By federal law, 501(c)(4) groups, which are not required to disclose the names of their donors, must spend at least 51 percent of their total resources on charitable activity.

Ethics Watch alleges that “it appears that more than half of the activities engaged in by AFF, CEG, Freedom’s Watch and WSC have been partisan, non-educational activities that provide benefit to various conservative candidates for state and federal public office in violation of statutory requirements for 501(c)(4) organizations.”

“Each of these organizations have paid considerable money to purchase television ads attacking U.S. Senate candidate Mark Udall and candidates running for the state legislature,” said Chantell Taylor, director of Colorado Ethics Watch, in a news release.

“Based on our research, it appears that the organizations are primarily engaged in political activities and need to show where, how and what they are doing to promote the welfare of the community at large. If they do not, they can and should lose their tax exempt status.”

On Sept. 5, the Colorado Independent reported on the Western Skies Coalition and its efforts to — fueled by unlimited gas and oil industry cash — boost conservative candidates running for the state Senate.

This campaign cycle, the group has been sponsoring TV ads portraying Republican state Senate candidates such as incumbent Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield, as renewable energy advocates despite voting records to the contrary. Western Skies-sponsored ads have also appeared to boost Republican state Senate candidate Libby Szabo, who is running against Democrat Evie Hudak in the northern Jefferson County race, targeted by both parties, to replace Democrat Sue Windels.

Further, The Colorado Independent found, the Western Skies Coalition, registered as a Virginia corporation with an office in Littleton, is allegedly being used by state Sen. Josh Penry, R-Fruita, to raise funds from oil and gas companies in a bid to target several key Colorado state Senate races and win back a Republican majority in 2010, according to several sources.

When contacted by the Colorado Independent, several oil and gas companies doing business in Colorado refused to confirm or deny their involvement in the coalition’s efforts. However, as TCI has also reported, many of them have dropped a mind-blowing $10 million into fighting Amendment 58 — a statewide initiative that would eliminate a tax credit for oil companies in Colorado that would raise more than $300 million a year for college scholarships, wildlife habitat and other programs. In that campaign, they have been required by state election laws to disclose their contributions.

In late July the Colorado Independent also reported on the activities of another group targeted by Colorado Ethics Watch this week — Coloradans for Economic Growth.

This summer Coloradans for Economic Growth launched a $670,562 negative ad blitz against Rep. Udall, the Democratic Senate candidate. The principals behind the organization include Denver-based GOP heavyweight and former legislator Cliff Dodge; Margo Branscomb, the executive director of the pro-charter and school voucher group Foundation for Academic Innovation; and Michele Austin, an operative and delegate to the Republican National Convention in Minnesota.

All three have ties to Udall’s Republican opponent, former congressman Bob Schaffer, including through his former boss, Aspect Energy CEO Alex Cranberg. Schaffer resigned as Aspect’s vice president for international business development Dec. 31, 2007, to run for the Senate.

The ads come on top of unprecedented spending by interest groups in the hotly contested Senate race between Udall and former Rep. Bob Schaffer to replace retiring Sen. Wayne Allard. “Up until the end of last week, we think there has been about $8 million in attack ads against Mark Udall,” said Udall spokesperson Tara Trujillo on Wednesday morning.

Freedom’s Watch, a 501(c)4 organization formed last summer to promote White House policy on the Iraq War, began running a 30-second ad slamming Udall for a proposed Department of Peace on Wednesday. The ad has to be seen to be believed:

The group, fronted by former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer and funded by Las Vegas casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson, plans to pour as much as $250 million into electioneering this year:

“While initial reports suggested a budget of $200 million, people who have talked to the group in recent weeks say the figure is closer to $250 million, more than double the amount spent by the largest independent liberal groups in the 2004 election cycle,” the Washington Post reported. “There is a sense among those contributing to Freedom’s Watch that MoveOn powerfully filled a void in the left, that rallied support in the left, that raised money from the left, that mobilized the left,” Fleischer told the Post.

The anti-tax Club for Growth.net launched its second anti-Udall ad on Tuesday, slamming the Democrat over “eminent domain abuse”:

The ad will run for two weeks on Denver TV sets at a cost of $400,000, according to a Club for Growth.net press release. A month ago, the group spent the same amount on a two-week buy for an ad attacking Udall over earmarks. That ad was funded by a coincident $400,000 donation from Swiftboat Veterans backer Bob Perry.

Udall’s campaign fired back with a laundry list of votes, activity and statements aimed at curbing “eminent domain abuse,” including work on behalf of property owners opposed to the Army’s eminent domain expansion at Pinon Canyon and help for an Estes Park woman to stay in her home. A release from the Udall campaign also takes on the Club for Growth.net’s specific charges:

The Vote Cited in the Ad Would NOT Have Made Government Eminent Domain Claims Easier. In that vote, Mark Udall opposed an amendment that barred federal funds from being used to enforce the Kelo decision. Instead, he voted for legislation to prohibit federal agencies from using eminent domain for economic development, deny federal economic development assistance to any local or state governments taking such measures, and give private property owners the right to bring suits against states regarding eminent domain.