Based on the comments of Energy Secretary Chu, it is clear that Obama's strategy is to focus on alternative energy alone and allow gasoline prices to escalate. I simply cannot imagine an incumbent president being re-elected with gas prices at those levels especially if the voters think he is responsible. Personally, I believe this will be the nail in Obama's coffin. High gas prices not only reduce consumer's buying power, they affect numerous aspects of the economy. There would be a high chance of a recession with $5+ gas prices.
If the R's do not nominate a strong candidate, Obama will be reelected regardless of his horrible performance.
I wish I knew. I like them all OK but I think Newt is unelectable. Ron Paul has the best ideas in my opinion. Does that make him the best candidate? I'm just not sure.
the script from the liberal media is to deflect any correlation between the Office of the President and the current state of the energy market. When Congressmen like Nancy Pelosi waxed ad hominem commentary about the former high gas prices while Bush was in office, the media touted the President as being culpable to any immediate and direct fluctuation in the market. However, with Obama in office, the tide has come back to shore, but instead of continuing to allow the false attacks to rest on one sole elected official, the media is supporting the actual facts that no one person has enough power or authority to sway the market in any given direction. In short, the media has leveraged their penchant for Obama, hoping that the mindless, uneducated voters will believe that higher energy prices are normal and expected, and that only the previous administration is to blame.
BI, I agree with your opinion. I hope that nobody reads my opinion as bashing Obama. IF the President had the ability to persuade and guide the price of Brent, OPECbasket or WTI, then why wouldn't Carter, Reagan, Bush or Obama have used that power to lock-in a guaranteed landslide victory at the polls? The price at the pump is as much a strain on the honesty and integrity of the media as it is a strain on the family budget. Unfortunately, the media can spin webs strong enough to snare even the most fervent centrist leadership. Until the media and party-line Congressmen supporters and detractors quit lying about oil and gas prices in order to cajole the public to vote their way, the price at the pump will be a red herring to distract and manipulate. In short, $5 gas will only hurt Obama's reelection as much as news outlets care to hurt it.
The title of this thread is great if you want to goat naive people. But as Bronco, BI and Dalhorn already noted- the President has almost nothing to do with gas prices. The US govt or President can not control: 1) Supply/production from the ME, Latin America and North Sea which are flat line 2) Can not control surging demand from India, China, Brazil and Russia 3) Can not control the risk premium added to the cost whether it is Iran's BS or similar terror related crap 4) Ignorance or partisanship when Party A says unless President B did project X or legislation Y your gas prices will go to $10. Had you elected Z it would be $2/gallon. Gas will never be cheap again, ever. We should get over that now and it has nothing to do with politics- it's supply demand. About the only thing he can do, and has done, is to encourage more efficient automobiles and alternatives. Credit goes to both Bush and Obama for doing so with CAFE standards. Today, the 2012 Ford Explorer V6 gets 26 mpg. When I was in high school you were lucky to get 17 mpg on an Explorer. Changes like that are subtle, but huge considering the difference it makes in demand. Many people know a dollar you save by not spending it is much better than a dollar you spend on gas and finding more and more gas. The saved dollar can be spent on the rest of the economy by the consumer- where it is much needed. Frankly, if anything I give credit to Bush/Obama for what they did such that had they not increased efficiency the averted increased demand from US consumers could have made gasoline prices much worse already.
It is an easy argument to make against Obama: 1) He closed down the eastern Gulf even after he opened it up. 2) His EPA is making work in northern Alaska almost impossible. 3) He cancelled Keystone. 4) He shut down the Gulf of Mexico for an inexplicable amount of time. All of these actions not only hurt the U.S. Energy industry, they also hurt the U.S. job market. While they likely had very little to do with the current price at the pump, he surely has been very anti-energy except when it comes to throwing money down black holes.
I wish I could say no, but with quality of Obama supporters being what it is, the answer is yes. The Teflon President has no weakness, in the eyes of his supporters. Even with his Bush like war mongering, tax cuts for the rich, NDAA and high unemployment..he can do no wrong. 2016 can't get here fast enough.