ALBUQUERQUE — Barack Obama’s recent rise in the presidential race numbers isn’t due to media persuasion –- as the increasing volume in blogosphere and email chatter would have us believe –- but rather is directly tied to Americans’ negative response to the economic crisis.

That’s one University of New Mexico political science professor’s take on the election. And a trend-setting chart at Pollster.com clearly illustrates his point.

It’s important to realize that “the media doesn’t persuade us,” University of New Mexico (UNM) political science professor Michael Rocca said during a recent financial symposium at the UNM Law School. But that doesn’t mean the media hasn’t had a role.

“What’s happening is the media is setting the agenda,” Rocca said. And that agenda since mid-September has been the economy. “By saying ‘economy, economy, economy (the media is) getting Americans to think about the economy and how it will affect us,” Rocca said.

Rocca made his comments during “Politics, Press and the Crisis,” one of five panels that featured more than a dozen experts in law, economics, business and sociology at an all-day financial teach-in at UNM.

He illustrated his theory with a chart from Pollster.com, which shows Obama’s rise in the polls at about mid-September, when the global financial crunch commenced with the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers. At this point, the blue line (Obama) goes up and the red line (McCain) trends down.

Rocca said there is an “almost perfect correlation” between Obama’s lead in the polls and the number of Americans who have responded negatively to the economy. Rocca noted that the chart also reflects a surge in interest in John McCain immediately after the GOP convention. “Then, a striking thing happens.”

We start to see Obama increase in popularity, “precisely because of the economic crisis.” Rocca said he likes the charts at Pollster.com because the site takes live trends and averages them “so you get a trend over time.” The result is a “flash chart.”

As you roll over any dot on the chart with your cursor, a box appears with an explanation of the pollster behind the dot, which could be one of dozens ranging from ABC to Zogby. The lines on the chart are the trend that results when the dots are averaged. (As the instructions on the site demonstrate, the charts are also interactive: If you don’t want to include a certain poll because, say, you don’t like that particular pollster, you can filter it out and see what the trend looks like without it.)

Rocca went on to say that Obama does better in a financial crisis because he is perceived as better on domestic issues like the economy and taxes. McCain, however is seen as better in terms of national and international security, Iraq, guns and terrorism, Rocca said.

“I think the thing driving all of this is perceptions of the political parties,” Rocca said. Among the other factors: The perception of the sitting president.

About 70 percent of Americans are negative on President Bush and the economy, “which is negative for McCain.”

Rocca noted that a Gallup poll of problems facing the nation showed the Iraq War was the No. 1 issue for Americans from 2003 to 2008. In September, the economy replaced the war as Americans’ top concern. The chart for New Mexico, interestingly, shows support for Obama steadily rising since mid-March.