Mitt Romney seized the lead in yet another batch of polls in critical swing states yesterday, continuing his astonishing turnaround since he debated President Obama in Denver.

In battleground Virginia -- where Romney continued to reference his own performance while lauding his running mate Paul Ryan’s Thursday debate in Kentucky -- Romney leads Obama 49-47 percent in the latest Rasmussen poll.

Romney also seized a narrow 48-47 percent lead in Colorado in a new Denver Post/Survey USA poll, following a Quinnipiac University poll that also gave him a 1-point edge.

Romney also moved up in New Hampshire, leading 50-46 percent in the latest ARG poll in a state where Obama appeared to have opened a significant lead by the end of September.

That puts even more pressure on Obama to win Ohio, where he continues to hold a slight lead. The president plans to return there on Wednesday, while Romney and Ryan stump there this weekend.

Romney’s poll surge directly coincides with his drubbing of Obama in their first debate -- and Romney made sure to talk up Ryan’s performance yesterday while addressing an outdoor crowd at a Mobility Supercenter, a company providing wheelchairs and accessible vans.

Romney and Obama face off again Tuesday at Hofstra University on Long Island.

“I think you might agree with me that there was one person on stage last night who was thoughtful, respectful, steady and poised -- the kind of person you want to turn to in a crisis,” Romney said, referring to Ryan.

Without naming Vice President Joe Biden, Romney added, “The other candidate, of course, just attacked.”

The Republican National Committee was more direct, releasing a one-minute video featuring Biden’s array of broad smiles, smirks and laughs during the debate.

The ad contrasts some of Biden’s goofier grins with a deadly serious Ryan on a split screen. The tag line: “Vice President Biden is laughing...are you?”

Supporters at Romney’s event had already reached the same conclusion. “Biden was very disrespectful, sneering like they’ve done something,” said Shelly Hall, a self-employed Romney backer.

“Probably this way, south of the Mason-Dixon line, it probably really turned off a lot of independents, because of the rudeness,” said Joy Cobb, a real estate agent from south of Richmond.

Obama sent out a fund-raising e-mail to supporters, saying he was “proud” of Biden.

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Editor's Note: It is stunning to me that, in a time when voters across the ideological spectrum say the primary thing they despise about politics today is the caustic divisiveness, the Obama-Biden team would double down on caustic divisiveness. In reality, that means they aren't even bright enough to have figured out why undecideds and Independents voted for them last time around. That said, it's remarkable they are still close in this race. Of course (and to borrow a phrase from 'Forrest Gump'), "Stupid is as stupid does."