As the race for the White House hots up, Republican presidential nominee John McCain [Images] has for the first time wrested a small but insignificant lead over his Democratic rival Barack Obama [Images].

The Rasmussen Report's daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday showed that the race for the White House is tied with Obama and McCain each attracting 44 per cent of the vote. But when the "leaners" are included, it's McCain 47 per cent and Obama 46 per cent.

This is the first time McCain has enjoyed even a statistically insignificant advantage of any sort since Obama clinched the Democratic nomination on June 3.

A week ago, Obama had a three-percentage point lead and the candidates were even among unaffiliated voters.

On Monday, McCain leads 52 per cent to 37 per cent.

McCain is current favourite of nation's voters with 55 per cent votes as compared to Obama's 51 per cent, lowest rating for the Illinois Senator since he wrapped up the nomination.

Obama is viewed favourably by 83 per cent of Democrats, 22 per cent of Republicans, and 47 per cent of unaffiliated voters. For McCain, the numbers are 87 per cent among Republicans, 26 per cent among Democrats and 61 per cent among unaffiliated voters.

Forty-six per cent of voters trust McCain on energy issues while Obama is trusted by 42 per cent.

The daily tracking poll comes at a time when both the candidates are trying to see what is the best time to announce their running mates with the campaign advisors making sure to have the best advantage given the Olympics [Images] factor and the time of the national conventions.

Political analysts say both the Obama and the McCain campaigns are looking at taking away the advantage from the other in what is known as the "bounce" factor.

More than the "bounce" media and election specialists are also looking at the most favourable candidates. With the former top runner Hillary Rodham Clinton now seemingly out of vice presidential race, the focus is on whether Obama will go for beefing up advantages in the ticket by way of geography or the so-called "inexperience" in foreign affairs.

One line of thinking is that Obama will go for a candidate to make up for a traditional "red" state like Virginia or go for some one like Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana to ensure that the Midwest falls in line.

One of the names also doing the rounds is that of former Senator Sam Nunn of Georgia, who is an expert on national security issues including nuclear non-proliferation.

In McCain's case, a name frequently mentioned is that of Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota. Pawlenty, who visited India last year along with a large business delegation, has said he is "honoured" to have his name mentioned.

Conservative columnists have been persisting with the Indian-American Governor of Louisiana Bobby Jindal, but seasoned political observers say this was not in a serious reckoning with the age difference -- Jindal is about the half the age of McCain -- going to the disadvantage and not to the advantage of the Arizona Senator.

Further, senior Republican leaders in the Indian-American community believe that Jindal does not have sufficient traction within the community to make a big difference to McCain, politically or by way of bringing in big bucks.