The bad news: Today’s numbers are actually down three points from when Rasmussen polled a similar question two months ago. The good news: Poll after poll puts support for drilling at above 60 percent, with fully 37 percent of potential Obama voters on board — the same percentage, you’ll recall, as the number of Democrats who want to, er, nationalize the oil industry. The better news:

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that over half (55%) agree with [McCain’s] proposal to build more nuclear plants, although 32% disagree…

More than twice as many likely McCain voters (73%) like his idea of building more nuclear plants versus 35% of potential Obama voters. Similarly, 72% of men favor building more plants as opposed to only 40% of women.

I’ve always thought drilling was politically feasible but that new nuclear power really isn’t, thanks to green paranoia. But this is now the second poll in the last few months to show a clear majority in favor of it; Opinion Dynamics found a 51/41 split on building new plants back in June, with Dems almost evenly divided. I wonder why the House GOP isn’t making a bigger deal about it now that they have a moment alone in the spotlight. Gingrich, who’s at the tip of the spear on this issue, has blessed it repeatedly; it’s politically useful as a way of proving to centrists that the Republican solution to all things energy isn’t always oiiiiiiiiillllll; and it turns the tables on the left by appealing to global warming worriers as a conscientious alternative to carbon-producing energy schemes. And hey — the French love it. Coming soon to the Republican House pageant: Mike Pence in a beret pointing with a baguette at a placard reading, “Go nuclear.”