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After Barack Obama's long, bruising primary-season battle with Hillary Rodham Clinton, a lot of Democrats worried that he would have a problem getting women's support. Does he? Not really. Obama has a 9-percentage-point lead among women nationwide, according to the latest CNN poll conducted by Opinion Research.

The big surprise is that Obama is running nearly even with presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain among men nationally. Quinnipiac University polls in the three biggest swing states--Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania--also show Obama neck and neck with McCain among men.

Male support has become crucial for Republicans. Men elected George W. Bush in 2000 and re-elected him in 2004, according to the network exit polls (53 percent for Bush in 2000; 55 percent in 2004). Most women voted for 2000 Democratic nominee Al Gore (54 percent) and 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry (51 percent).

Bush came to the White House from the traditionally male worlds of sports and business--fields that are all about risk taking and competition. During the 2000 campaign, when Gore warned voters about Bush's "risky schemes," Bush ridiculed him. "Every one of the proposals I've talked about tonight, he's called a 'risky scheme,' " Bush said at the Republican National Convention that year. "If my opponent had been at the moon launch, it would have been a 'risky rocket scheme.' If he had been there when Edison was testing the lightbulb, it would have been a 'risky anti-candle scheme.' "

But there's a fine line between risk taking and recklessness. As president, Bush appears to have crossed that line.

In the last nine presidential elections--going back to 1972--men have voted for the Democratic nominee only twice. They voted for Jimmy Carter in 1976, when the economy was bad and a Republican was in the White House. And they voted for Bill Clinton in 1992, when the economy was bad and a Republican was in the White House. Now it's 2008, and the economy is bad and a Republican is in the White House.

For men, the economy is clearly issue No. 1. In the CNN poll, 44 percent of men cited the economy as their top concern, which was twice as many as chose the Iraq war (22 percent) and four times as many as chose health care (11 percent) or terrorism (11 percent). In the Quinnipiac swing-state polls, majorities of men in all three states picked the economy as their top issue. Asked which economic issue worries them the most, about half the male voters in each state said gasoline prices (48 to 52 percent), far more than chose health care costs (15 to 18 percent), food prices (12 to 14 percent), declining retirement fund values (7 to 9 percent), or falling real estate values (4 to 9 percent).

Obama feels their pain. "George Bush and Washington may not have noticed, but manufacturing jobs have been leaving for decades now," he told voters in Flint, Mich.

McCain feels it, too, but he sounds more defensive. "I believe in the fundamental strength of our economy, but I also know full well how tough these times are," he said on CNBC.

The economy is giving Obama a foothold among male voters: The Democrat has a 7-point lead among men who say their top concern is the economy, according to the CNN poll.

The Quinnipiac polls in Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania all show that, since locking up the Democratic nomination, Obama has swung into the lead in the general election contest. He leads McCain by 6 points in Ohio and 12 in Pennsylvania, statistically significant margins. In Florida, Obama is 4 points up, which is not quite statistically significant but is a turnaround from last month, when McCain led by 4. In fact, all three states show a shift toward the Democrat. That is remarkable, considering that Obama lost all three states' primaries to Hillary Clinton.

Why the swing to the Democrats? Here's a clue: Bush's job-approval ratings are 22 percent in Ohio, 24 percent in Pennsylvania, and 27 percent in Florida. In each case, Bush has lost about half the support he got in 2004. Among men, Bush's ratings are hardly better--only 1 to 4 points higher than his average in each state.

Men are no longer there for Bush. And that's hurting McCain.