Obama loses lead in Colorado, McCain tightens margins elsewhere
 Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama may be looking at an election that is his to win, but Republican candidate John McCain looks to be making steady progress in Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
A recent NBC/WSJ nationwide poll found Obama up six percent over McCain (47%-41%), but Thursday's Wall Street Journal sees four battleground states where the margin is narrowing. And in Colorado, McCain has overtaken Obama outright by two percent, usurping a seven point lead in June.
"Sen. McCain leads the white male vote by more than 10 percentage points in each state except Wisconsin, where Sen. Obama trails by nine points," reports WSJ.
"Though Sen. Obama still leads among voters age 18 to 34, the margins aren't as great. These four states tend to have older populations though, so the polls likely don't reflect the maximum benefit of Sen. Obama's sway with youth voters... Of the four states polled, Michigan and Colorado may be the most pivotal in the two parties' broader plans for 2008."
The poll's primary findings were the importance of energy policy to voters; namely, gas prices. Sen. McCain, though previously opposed to offshore drilling and drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge, looks to capitalize on the specter of growing public support for the plan.
WSJ found that 59% of voters in Minnesota are in support of offshore drilling, whereas 39% are opposed. "Similar results appeared in Michigan, Colorado and Wisconsin. Across all four states, roughly one in 10 voters now support offshore drilling or drilling in Alaska when they used to oppose it," states the report.
Excerpts from article:
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Both candidates face political tradeoffs in handling the growing debate overe offshore drilling. Exploring off the coasts is more politically popular in industrial Midwest states, where voters worry mostly about the rising cost of gasoline and the economic pinch that creates, while voters in key coastal states, especially Florida, worry more about the environmental risks in their own backyards.
The switch in sentiments in the Midwest could be a favorable sign for Sen. McCain as it is one of the primary factors that sets his energy plan apart from Sen. Obama's. Both candidates tout the importance of reducing American dependence on foreign oil and both have expressed support, in different capacities, for nuclear energy. Sen. Obama also stresses the importance of tax breaks for wind and solar energy, which Sen. McCain doesn't oppose outright but has said he's skeptical of.
Voters haven't abandoned those solutions. In each state they ranked renewable energy sources as the "best way to help solve the energy crisis and make America less dependent on foreign oil," by a wide margin.
But "what we're seeing is a shift toward more drilling," says Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the poll. "It gives McCain an opportunity to make the argument that he offers new solutions, or solutions that others aren't willing to take – others being Obama."
Energy policy could give Sen. McCain "an opportunity that is part of the economic matrix," as well, says Mr. Brown. Once again the economy outranked issues like the war in Iraq and illegal immigration as the single most important issue for voters. Sen. McCain trails Sen. Obama among those voters but capitalizing on the energy debate could help tip the scales. The idea hasn't been lost on the McCain campaign, which released an ad this week blaming those that don't support drilling, i.e. Sen. Obama, for high gas prices. The ad is airing in Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Northern Virginia, and Wisconsin.
The whole story may be read at this link.
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