As gas prices soared past the four-dollar-a-gallon mark, the energy issue became one of the key driving issues of Election 2008 and America’s voters perceive a stark difference between Barack Obama and John McCain on the subject.

By substantial margins, voters believe that McCain’s top priority is finding new sources of energy while Obama is more focused on reducing the amount of energy we consume.
Data released yesterday shows that voters overwhelmingly believe it is more important to find new sources of energy. Sixty-seven percent (67%) believe McCain shares this priority while just 29% believe Obama holds that same view.

Most voters—55%--believe that Obama’s top priority is reducing the amount of energy we consume. Only 12% believe this is McCain’s primary focus on the energy issue.
Republicans, Democrats, and unaffiliated voters all see McCain’s top priority as finding more energy sources.

As for Obama, Democrats are evenly divided—41% believe he is most interested in finding new sources of energy while 43% say he is most interested in reducing the amount of energy we use. By large margins, Republicans and unaffiliated voters see Obama as primarily seeking to reduce energy consumption.

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Other survey data shows that more voters trust McCain than Obama on the energy issue. Surveys also show strong public support for offshore oil drilling, a position advocated by McCain and resisted by Obama.

The race between Obama and McCain remains very close in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll. Only on Iraq do voters perceive a bigger divide between Obama and McCain. On that issue, voters overwhelmingly believe that McCain is more focused on winning the War while Obama places a higher priority on getting the troops home.

On that issue, it is Obama whose position is more in line with popular opinion. Forty-nine percent (49%) of voters nationwide now believe that getting the troops home is the top priority. Forty-two percent (42%) say winning the War is more important.

However, on Iraq, McCain’s position is supported by a very solid majority of Republicans and conservatives. On energy, most Democrats agree with McCain and liberal voters are evenly divided.

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