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First Posted: 10/14/2012 The calendar says it's a presidential election year, but in Northeastern Pennsylvania it sure doesn't feel like one. 
The region was spoiled with attention during the 2004 and 2008 presidential races as party top-ticket nominees, vice presidential nominees and big-name surrogates made the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area staple datelines on and in the national news. 
But then came 2012. 
This time there have been no visits to Lackawanna or Luzerne counties by President Barack Obama, a Democrat. No stops by his Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, or Romney's running mate, Paul Ryan, either.
Joe Biden, that scrappy kid who was born and spent the first decade of his life in Scranton, came back to his hometown for July 4th fireworks, only to leave before the display began.
Sure, his wife, Jill Biden, made stops in Scranton and Hazleton last week to urge people to register to vote. And Biden's son Beau was also in the vice president's native city this summer to stump for his dad and veterans benefits. 
Romney made a stop at the Weatherly Casting and Machine Co. for a jobs rally in June.
But since the primary election in April, Scranton and Wilkes-Barre have been put on the back burner. 
The state, for the most part, also has been ignored. Romney and Obama have each made a few stops in and around Philadelphia but haven't headed up the Northeast Extension to Luzerne or Lackawanna counties. 
<hl2 class="subhead" style="subhead">Pa. not in contention</hl2>
Jeff Brauer, a professor of political science at Keystone College in La Plume, said the candidates and their campaign advisers have targeted swing states that are in play such as Virginia, Ohio, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Colorado, Iowa and Nevada. And that's where they're spending much of their time campaigning. 
Polls support that strategy. Rasmussen Reports released polls in recent days that have the candidates within the margin of error in Florida (Romney 51-47), North Carolina (Romney 51-48), Ohio (Obama 48-47), Wisconsin (Obama 51-49), Colorado (Obama 49-48), Iowa (Obama 49-47) and Nevada (a 47-47 tie). In Pennsylvania, Obama had a 51-46 lead, greater than the 4.5 percent margin of error. 
While it's not a sure bet the polls will be accurate, they're becoming reliable enough to dictate campaign strategy, and this year that strategy is telling candidates Pennsylvania has not been in play, though Romney has been closing the gap in recent months. 
"Northeastern Pennsylvania has traditionally been a very important swing area of a very important swing state. So naturally it has attracted visits from candidates and their high-profile surrogates," Brauer noted. 
"However, this election cycle has been an exception. With Joe Biden's popularity in NEPA &amp;#8211; a reason why he was originally chosen for the Obama ticket &amp;#8211; and Obama's consistent lead in state polls throughout the summer, NEPA and Pennsylvania have been primarily out of play in this presidential election year," he said.
Brauer said that while previous Republican presidential candidates have made frequent stops in the state and this region, the votes haven't supported those decisions. 
"Many have come to legitimately question the role of Pennsylvania as a swing state at the presidential level considering it has not voted for a Republican since 1988 &amp;#8211; that's a long time ago in politics," he said.
In 2004, with President George W. Bush, a Republican, facing a challenge from Democrat John Kerry, this region was a prime destination for those two and vice presidential nominees John Edwards, Kerry's running mate, and Dick Cheney, Bush's vice president. 
A Times Leader tally showed how many times the nominees visited this area that year: John Edwards, four trips; George W. Bush, three; John Kerry, two; and Dick Cheney, one. 
In 2008, during the Democratic Party primary, Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton were regular visitors to Northeastern Pennsylvania. Once Obama won the party nomination, the Clintons began coming here on his behalf. 
Republican nominee John McCain and his running mate, Sarah Palin, came here, too. McCain made stops at the University of Scranton, held a town-hall meeting at the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre and spoke to supporters at the Scranton Cultural Center. His wife, Cindy, also paid a visit to the Wilkes University campus that year to stump for her husband.
Palin spoke to a crowd that year at the Riverfront Sports Complex in Scranton.
The members of the Obama/Biden ticket were no strangers to the region either. 
Obama visited Schott Glass in Duryea, then made a pit stop at the Avenue Diner in Wyoming. He also spoke at the Society of Irish Women's dinner at the Radisson Hotel in Scranton, Wilkes University and the Dunmore Community Center Gymnasium. 
Biden visited Dickson City to meet with volunteers for then U.S. Rep. Chris Carney's campaign and to attend a Carney fundraiser in Scranton. He also spoke along the western banks of the Susquehanna River in Nesbitt Park with Wilkes-Barre's skyline as his backdrop. The then-senator from Delaware also visited Scranton Labor Day weekend to visit his old neighborhood, meet with some childhood friends and walk around that city's La Festa Italiana.
<hl2 class="subhead" style="subhead">Poll-driven campaigns</hl2>
Tom Baldino, a Wilkes University political science professor, said the region and state will continue to be bypassed unless polls start to shift and make Pennsylvania more competitive for the Republican ticket. 
"It appears that both sides understand that Pennsylvania is not as &amp;#8216;in play' as it was in 2008," Baldino said. "Depending on what the post-debate polls reveal, however, Pennsylvania may appear competitive. If it's in play, we'll likely see not only more surrogates but also an appearance by each candidate."
 
Even a shift in the polls may not guarantee visits to these parts by the names at the top of the tickets.
"They may not come to Northeast Pennsylvania, however, but stop in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh," Baldino said. "I think for Pennsylvania to appear competitive, it will require Obama's lead in the polls to shrink to within the margin of error of the poll, essentially a 2-3 percent difference between the two candidates."

Where have candidates all gone this year?