Good news for Libyans might spell bad news for President Obama next year. Looks like it’s going to be an expensive summer at the gas pump.
The spread of popular revolution – read market uncertainty – into oil-rich Libya and the growing political instability throughout the Middle East virtually guarantees it. So does the recovering manufacturing sector; the growing automobile market in China and India; a nut job controlling Venezuela’s oil exports, and deep-water drilling moratoriums in the Gulf Coast .
We learned in the summer of 2008 that $4 is the magic number for the American driver. When a gallon of gas exceeds that price, motorists alter their habits – and howl like mad.
No one has a crystal ball. It is impossible to predict with certainty today how much a gallon of gas will cost in July. But a quick scan of international news headlines suggests it will be significantly higher than an already-high $3.16, today’s national average. Indeed, oil prices jumped to a two-year high today on news out of the Middle East.
If the price of gas reaches or exceeds $4 again, Americans aren’t going to be happy about it. And fairly or unfairly, they’re going to take it out on President Obama — just months before his re-election effort launches.
Politicians who want to be ahead of the game should start addressing this today, most notably the President.
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[…] plate, this may be the one that costs him the most electorally. We already have learned that $4 gas is the breaking point for Americans. If it jumps higher than that this summer, and indecision in Libya appears to be one of the […]
[…] radio address that he’s nervous about the effect of high gas prices on his re-election bid. He should be. With gas prices surpassing $4 per gallon nationally – two full months before the summer […]