Obama Schedule Shows Attention Paid to Swing States

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President Obama was in Ohio on Tuesday to sell his jobs bill -- his third visit this year and 15th since becoming president to the vital swing state which has not picked a presidential loser since 1960.

Coincidence?

While the White House says Obama will be hitting "every corner" of America to talk about the economy, the president's travel records show he's paying particular attention to some of the most vital battleground states.

Of the more than 40 separate visits he's made to states outside Washington this year, at least 18 have been to swing states. He's made three trips each to Ohio and Florida, another key battleground.

The trips come as the president faces a vocal field of Republican candidates jockeying -- on the debate stage and on the campaign trail -- to take him on in the race for the White House next year.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, asked Monday whether the schedule was an outgrowth of the president's re-election plans, said Obama was merely campaigning for the passage of his jobs bill.

"I've been asked this question, isn't this a campaign? You're absolutely right, it is a campaign. The president is campaigning for growth and jobs," Carney said.

Carney said the president will take that message "across the land," when asked if Obama would move beyond swing states.

Aside from Ohio and Florida, Obama has made several trips this year to Virginia and Pennsylvania, states, two other states that were key to his victory in 2008. Incidentally, House Republican Leader Eric Cantor represents Virginia and House Speaker John Boehner represents Ohio.

But White House officials have dismissed the suggestion that they're trying to put pressure directly on those GOP leaders by visiting those states.

"We'll be to a lot of different places," Carney said last week.

One of those places is North Carolina, where Obama is going Wednesday to once again pitch the jobs bill. It's a state he won by less than a point in 2008. He also visited North Carolina in June for a jobs meeting.

There's no textbook definition for a swing state. But in counting up the Obama battleground stops, FoxNews.com looked at states Obama won by about 10 points or less in 2008.

In looking at all the Obama visits, FoxNews.com did not count golf outings, Camp David weekends or vacations. The president's visit to Arizona earlier this year following the Tucson shooting, as well as his visits this past weekend pertaining to Sept. 11 services, also were not counted.

Fox News' Kimberly Schwandt contributed to this report.