The Numbers

The presidential race remains close, with Rasmussen showing McCain back in the lead by 1%.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Saturday shows that the race for the White House is tied—Barack Obama and John McCain each attract 44% of the vote. When "leaners" are included, it’s McCain 47% and Obama 46%. With leaners, the candidates have been within one point of each other for nine straight days.

Rasmussen is the best poll - a daily tracking poll of 3000 likely voters. Gallup, which tracks registered voters without testing for their likelihood of their actual participation, shows Barack with a 5% lead.

Gas prices may be going down slightly at the pump, but there’s no doubt the energy issue is number one right now in the presidential campaign. John McCain’s proposal to lift the ban on offshore oil drilling is resonating with voters, forcing Barack Obama to back off his opposition to the idea.

McCain has a winner with drilling for oil. Voters want us finding new sources of fuel rather than cutting consumption.

A stunning 81% of Americans tell Rasmussen Reports that there is an urgent national need to find new sources of energy, and this need is more important that reducing current energy usage.

This is good news for McCain, who continues to hammer his Democratic opponent on the drilling issue, because by substantial margins voters believe the Republican’s top priority is finding new sources of energy while they think Obama is more focused on reducing the amount of energy we consume.