I think polls are close because the electorate cares about the economy more than anything else and Obama has spent the last month dealing with culture issues and then foreign policy. He needed to do those things and it will pay off in the fall. But for now, voters not paying very close attention to the campaign are not seeing Obama ads about the economy or energy prices and they aren't hearing him say anything about it either. As a result, his numbers have lagged.

That should change next week when Obama gets home.