(Harrisburg) -- President Obama is scheduled to visit Scranton Wednesday. Some experts say the visit might mark a new record for third-year presidents lavishing attention on battleground states.

It’s not unusual for the incumbent president to make frequent visits to presidential swing states before an election. But the Wall Street Journal reports that President Obama’s visit to Pennsylvania this week marks his eighth to the commonwealth this year - that amounts to more trips made by Mr. Obama to Pennsylvania than were made by either George W. Bush or Bill Clinton during their third years in office.

Michael Federici, a political science professor at Mercyhurst College in Erie, says Mr. Obama’s campaign is being aggressive, given that it’s not even 2012 yet and battleground state visits are mounting. "I think it is an indication that they think the economy, which will be the biggest issue, isn’t going to recover much and it’s going to make the president’s reelection efforts extremely difficult. I mean, I think they believe they’re in a real dog fight. And that’s why they’re kind of pushing at the limits of what’s the custom," Federici says.

The White House has denied that the frequent trips are political.