Obama heads to Pennsylvania for 8th time this year

President Obama greets people at Wiggins Airport in Manchester, N.H., Nov. 22, 2011.

/ AP/Cheryl Senter

It'll be President Obama's 16th trip to Pennsylvania since taking office as he arrives in Scranton this afternoon for another speech on his call to extend and enlarge payroll tax cuts next year.

The frequency of his visits to Pennsylvania - 8 times this year alone - reflects the importance of the state in Mr. Obama's strategy for re-election.

But the White House insists today's visit is "official" and not campaign-related. By making that assertion, the White House need not have the president's campaign or political party bear any of the costs of his travel to the state, small though they may be.

The same was true of President Obama's visit last week to Manchester, N.H., where he also pressed Congress to quickly pass his plan to extend payroll tax cuts. Mr. Obama won New Hampshire in 2008 and wants it in his win column against next year.

Since filing with the Federal Election Commission on April 4th as a candidate for a second term, the president has made 39 domestic trips to 27 states, several more than once. The White House says the only political speeches Mr. Obama delivered were at campaign fundraising events.

When Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich or any of the other Republican presidential candidates give a policy speech, their campaign pays the costs. But FEC rules say the White House can declare for itself whether a presidential trip is political and costs to the government need not be reimbursed by the incumbent's campaign or political party.

Like Mr. Obama, his predecessors have taken advantage of the FEC rules in their bids for re-election as well.

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"Every President ought to be able to travel everywhere in the country," says White House Press Secretary Jay Carney. "It's part of his responsibility, serving the American people, to get out and be among them and to speak with them about his agenda or her agenda. This president will continue to do that."

But Carney's assertion sidesteps the question of whether a presidential visit has political objectives and should be paid for in part by the Obama Campaign or Democratic National Committee.

Our CBS News tally shows that since the beginning of this year, Mr. Obama has made 39 visits to 12 so-called "battleground states," where he will have to wage an intensive campaign to win.

The states deemed as battlegrounds by CBS News include Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Hampshire, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico.

The only occasions so far this year on which the White House has designated the trips as political are those that included campaign fund-raisers for Mr. Obama's re-election.

So his trip to Scranton this afternoon is official, says the White House. It's a claim that cannot be made later in the day when he travels to New York City to attend 3 fund-raisers for his re-election campaign and the Democratic Party.

17 Photos

Obama on the campaign trail

[Facts_Matter]

If he is not there talking about the GOP nomination and his own aspirations for another 4 years, then he is not campaigning for President. He might very well be campaigning for the Jobs bill, or to keep YOUR taxes down, but that is part of his JOB.

[PitsMcgoo]

The rules allow it so what's the problem other than it's Obama instead of Bush making the campaign stops? If you don't like the rules change them, though I doubt you'll get much support from either party.

[Facts_Matter]

true

[wfw3536]

Time for Obama to bow out of this race and let Mrs Clinton run. Yesterday, Gallop showed that at this time Jimmy Carter had a 51% approval at this time in his presidency, while Obama now stands a 43%. We all know what happened to Carter. Obama lacks the leadership skills Mrs Clinton has, and she would be able to work with republicans like her President Clinton did so successfully for 8 years.

[payback108]

BS they all need to pay and bozo has made twice as many trips

[payback108]

BS they all need to pay