AP; Costly gasoline clouds Obama re-election prospects

[OmahaBlueDog]

WASHINGTON – With gas prices climbing and little relief in sight, President Barack Obama is scrambling to get ahead of the latest potential obstacle to his re-election bid, even as Republicans are making plans to exploit the issue.

No one seems more aware of the electoral peril than Obama himself.

"My poll numbers go up and down depending on the latest crisis, and right now gas prices are weighing heavily on people," he told Democratic donors in Los Angeles this past week.

In fact, Obama raised the issue unsolicited in a series of town meetings in Virginia, California and Nevada that were ostensibly about his deficit-reduction plan. And he made the gas spike the subject of his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday.

Read more at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_obama_gas_prices

[MadBadger]

1. The price of gasoline now will have no bearing on 2012

[azurnoir]

2. The election is 19 months away an eternity in political terms

lots can and will happen between now and then

[OmahaBlueDog]

4. I agree completely. However, everyone should be familiar with what the MSM is reporting

It will be used as a basis for campaigning for more drilling and for more widespread fracking.

[azurnoir]

18. True enough ...... I saw another thread where the EPA was being blamed n/t

[Alexander]

10. Big fan of your avatar. Larks' Tongues is one of the greatest albums of all time.

[azurnoir]

19. Thanks and agree albeit

Starless and Bible Black runs it a close secong if not a tie

[Proud Liberal Dem]

3. The Republicans are in worse shape IMHO

They don't have a plan (or a viable candidate for that matter). I sincerely hope people are not looking to THEM to solve their gas pump problems (particularly given that they feel the need to apologize to the oil companies for their "mistreatment" at the hands of the Obama administration over the Gulf Oil spill last year-due to their negligence).

[OmahaBlueDog]

7. They have a candidate problem, for sure

At one end of the spectrum, you have Romney. Republican Governor from a traditionally liberal state, and Winter Olympic organizer. However, he's kind of a snoozefest as a speaker, he can't shake the Romneycare/HCR comparison, and his membership in LDS is a non-starter for many fundies.

On the other end is Sarah Palin. She is beloved of fundies, but comes with baggage, an uncanny knack for coming off as an idiot in interviews, and likely made a huge mistake resigning her governorship.

Most likely, they nominate Huckabee or Trump.

[Old and In the Way]

9. They have a plan - the Cuts Plan

Tax cuts for the rich, Medicare and Social Security cuts for the rest of us.

[jaysunb]

5. Which oil company does Obama own or run ?

:evilfrown:

[dkf]

6. That is the cost of prolonging the Libyan rebels fight against Qaddafi.

Really it should have been obvious. I guess we can give Obama credit for supporting the rebels above keeping oil prices low.

[ReturnoftheDjedi]

8. they're starting to realize that they have no chance of beating Obama.

[CountAllVotes]

17. agree

Who do "they" have to run against him? Answer: NO ONE but a bunch of losers and "they" know it.

:kick:

[Spider Jerusalem]

11. Unfortunate fact: fuel prices will continue to rise.

There is nothing that any political party or any politician or any President can do to change this fact. The weakness of the US dollar on global currency markets, high rates of inflation, and increased resource competition for oil from China and India along with relatively flat global supply mean that fuel prices if anything will only continue to head upward. The only thing that's going to make them go back down? Another deep recession that leads to demand destruction. That's why fuel prices went down in 2009. Hate to break it to you, America, but you don't have a god-given right to cheap oil. Especially not when over half of all oil used in the US is imported.

[spanone]

12. so the oil companies and wall street can speculate a president out of office

[ohheckyeah]

13. Well, isn't that special.

Neither side seems to give a damn what the high cost of gas is doing to Americans, it's just a political issue to 'get ahead of' or to exploit.

[Andy823]

14. What they need to do

Is bring up bills to regulate speculation in the oil markets, and in food commodities forcing republicans in the house, and senate, to "kill" the bill or push it through! Make the republicans go on record that they won't help the citizens of this country, instead they will vote to help the "oil companies", speculators, and wall street in general!

Democrats also need to keep hammering the fact that not ONE bill has been brought forward by the republicans in the house to increase jobs, only bills that would kill jobs! They should also be making TV ads about this and show Boehner's statement when asked about all the jobs that some of their bills would end and he said "SO BE IT"!

The republicans are giving the democrats so many sound bites they can use against them, and I hope someone is already busy putting those sound bites on video!

[rocktivity]

15. Did gas prices drop while Bush was in office?

Nice try, though, AP.

:eyes:
rocktivity

[Turbineguy]

16. GAS IS EXPENSIVE!

P.S. Don't vote for Obama.

Oil went from $10 per barrel when GW Bush was nominated, to $30 per barrel when the election took place. Interestingly enough: Gas prices started 2000 at $1.46 by end March had risen to $1.71 hit $1.81 in June and were $1.71 at election time.

Gas prices from now, going back to begin 1996: www.eia.gov/emeu/international/Gas1.xls