Experts weigh in if presidential candidates will make a stop in Indiana before the election

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - We're less than six weeks away from the presidential election. And some people may be wondering why the candidates aren't focusing on Indiana this time around.

Back in 2008 it was exciting for folks in the Hoosier state. This year Mitt Romney has made stops but not President Obama. Experts said Indiana isn't a state either candidate's focusing on during this election.

"It's very common for presidential candidates of both parties to write off the state of Indiana," Director of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics Andy Downs said.

Downs said Obama isn't focusing his attention on Indiana because for decades Hoosiers have went for the Republican candidate. Plus, he wouldn't get many electoral college votes for winning Indiana.

"When they look around the country and they say which states can we win which states are we close in Indiana probably isn't one of those states where they're very close in so that one can get pushed off. Don't get me wrong if things keep going in a positive direction for them it's conceivable that they would start to put some effort into that state of Indiana."

Downs said the candidates instead are focusing some of their attention to our neighboring state of Ohio. That's because it's a swing state.

"If you think about Ohio you have Cincinatti, Columbus, Dayton, Cleveland these are some pretty big cities. So, you can go into one place and basically have contact with a large number of voters in a fairly short period of time and that's what campaigns have to do."

Experts have mixed feelings though if Obama will make a stop in Indiana before the election.

"People are speculating that Indiana is so solidly in the Repiblican category there's no reason for him to come here. There's no benefit.

"If the Obama campaign is really feeling the wind at its back they could perhaps view Indiana as a possibility," IPFW Associate Professor of Political Science Mike Wolf said.

The University of Notre Dame has invited both Obama and Romney to speak during the fall electoral campaign.