McCain gains in Minnesota, 3 other states

Republican John McCain is tightening the presidential race against Democratic rival Barack Obama in four key states, according to polls released Thursday.

The four polls conducted by Quinnipiac University in partnership with The Wall Street Journal and washingtonpost.com show McCain slightly ahead of Obama in Colorado, is close in Minnesota and has narrowed the gap in Michigan and Wisconsin.

In Colorado, McCain led 46 percent to 44 percent. Obama led in Michigan, 46 percent to 42 percent; by 46 percent to 44 percent in Minnesota and by 50 percent to 39 percent in Wisconsin, according to the polls posted on the university's Web site.

The polling data come in a week in which Obama has received heavy news coverage with a trip through war zones, the Mideast and Europe.

McCain has been struggling to attract attention for a campaign swing that was supposed to focus on domestic issues. Thursday, the presumptive GOP candidate visited a grocery store in Pennsylvania before heading to Ohio, both states the McCain camp has targeted as key to victory in November.

The issue that seems to have helped McCain in the polls was his support of offshore oil drilling. As gasoline prices have risen, other polls have shown Americans are more likely to support offshore drilling, especially if they are in states that would not be affected.

Voters in the four states back offshore drilling by margins of 22 to 31 percentage points. The polls also show voters in those states would support drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge by 7 to 12 percentage points.

Energy policy ranked as the most important issue, eclipsing the war in Iraq, which has garnered most of the attention this week because of Obama's trip.

McCain's increased support seems to have come across the board but especially from independents and men. He leads among independents in Michigan and Minnesota.

"Sen. Barack Obama's post-primary bubble hasn't burst but it is leaking a bit," Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said on the Web site.

"It's been a good month for Sen. John McCain. His movement in these key states, not large except for Minnesota, jibes with the tightening we are seeing in the national polls."

McCain met with voters in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., after canceling a visit to New Orleans because of bad weather. He then traveled to a German restaurant in Columbus, Ohio.

"Well, I'd love to give a speech in Germany," he said. "But I'd much prefer to do it as president of the United States rather than as a candidate for president."

At an appearance Thursday night with cyclist Lance Armstrong, McCain could not resist a swipe at the throngs of journalists with Obama.

"My opponent, of course, is traveling in Europe, and tomorrow his tour takes him to France," McCain said, according to his prepared remarks. "In a scene Lance would recognize, a throng of adoring fans awaits Sen. Obama in Paris, and that's just the American press."

McCain planned to meet with the Dalai Lama today in Aspen, Colo.

Material from Gannett Newspapers and The New York Times is included in this report.