Record Gas Prices Could Hurt McCain

Politico: Distress Over Energy Costs Could Hardly Come At A Worse Time For Republicans

(The Politico)  This story was written by David Paul Kuhn.

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More Americans now view energy as a serious concern than at the low point of the 1979 energy crisis, according to a Politico analysis of historical Gallup Polls. And the percentage of voters who consider energy issues “very important” in determining their vote has also risen dramatically since the last election, from 54 percent in October 2004 to 77 percent in a recent poll released by The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press - a percentage point increase nearly double that of any other issue.

Distress over gas prices could hardly come at a worse time for Republicans. Voters usually blame a poor economy on the party that controls the presidency, and there are few more potent reminders of hard economic times than the high cost of fuel at the pump. On Sunday, for the first time ever, AAA found that the national average cost of gasoline rose to $4 a gallon.

“Of all the products that we buy, there is none in which the price is so obvious and so in our face,” said Stephen Hess, a presidential analyst at the Brookings Institution. “It’s not how often we buy gas - it’s how often we pass a gas station. It has a built-in irritant.”

Thus far, it’s McCain who has most suffered from that irritation. On an issue that three in four registered voters believe will be “very important” in making their “decision about who to vote for this fall” - a greater portion of voters than those who cite terrorism, moral values or the war in Iraq - Pew shows Republicans lagging Democrats by 15 percentage points on who will give “greater priority” to energy. While McCain’s bid for the presidency is likely dependent on his ability to outperform the unpopular Republican brand, the same poll shows him trailing the GOP on the issue. He trails Obama by an even larger margin, 18 percentage points, among voters asked which candidate would better “deal” with the energy issue.

“Gasoline prices hurt Carter much more than the Iran hostage crisis,” said Paul Light, author of “A Government Ill Executed” and a professor at New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service.

Light conducted a poll in March that found concern about gasoline prices had risen almost as dramatically as the prices themselves, and were now voters' second biggest concern.

“Among the true independents this is just the kind of issue that cuts hard,” he said. Independents have been particularly turned off by McCain’s gas tax holiday proposal - a May Quinnipiac poll found independent voters were more likely to disapprove than approve of his gas tax holiday plan by 18 percentage points, a gap more than twice that of party-registered voters.

It’s not just independents who are concerned, though. A record 94 percent of Americans believe that the “energy situation” is “very serious” or “fairly serious,” according to the latest polling by Gallup this March. The previous high was 85 percent in February of 1979, shortly before the price of crude oil reached a then-record high of $103 per barrel in 2008 dollars in April 1980 - a record that held until earlier this year.

While there are no gas lines today, Americans are again curtailing their lifestyles in response to the high prices. A recent report by the Federal Highway Administration showed that traffic for the month of March fell for the first time since 1979. Several U.S. airlines have recently begun eliminating thousands of jobs, grounding aircraft and charging for all checked baggage, all to cope with fuel costs.

Gas prices have also pushed the Big Three automakers to slow the manufacture of gas guzzling sport utility vehicles and trucks. General Motors announced last week that it may discontinue its Hummer brand.

So far, proposals to deal wit the problem have been limited. McCain and Hillary Rodham Clinton failed to gain much traction for their proposed federal gas tax holiday, which would have removed the 18.4 cent-a-gallon federal gas tax for the summer. Obama opposed the idea, calling the gas tax holiday political pandering - a position that put him in line with most economists.

Four years ago, when gas prices also surfaced as a campaign issue, Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) called for President Bush to “divert the raw crude oil” from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to the market in order to offer temporary relief for U.S. consumers. President Bush rebuffed Kerry, arguing that the reserves were for emergencies that affect supply. Bush did, however, release and sell off 11 million barrels of oil after Hurricane Katrina.

At the time, the average gas price at the pump was about $2 a gallon. The national average is roughly double that today.

“It’s clearly a very big issue,” said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, McCain’s chief policy adviser. “It is one piece of an economy that is really weighing heavily on voters' minds.”

Neither campaign has proposed tapping the reserves. Eakin said the McCain campaign would, in coming months, highlight McCain’s opposition to “handouts” for oil companies.

At a fundraiser on Monday, McCain restated his support for the gas tax holiday, though he added that he does not "pretend that it's an answer to our energy problems."

Obama also weighed in on the gas price debate Monday, saying that he would impose a windfall profits tax on U.S. oil companies. Obama added that McCain’s support for Bush’s tax cuts amounts to support for subsidies for oil companies.

A senior adviser to Obama reiterated that the Illinois senator will continue to oppose the gas tax holiday.

[actornaught]

If the oil under US soil was a resource that would be wholly owned by its citizens, instead of oil companies, I think you would see the price of oil drop to where that US oil would be too expensive again.

[nkgilb]

John McCain left his first wife because she got fat and became disabled in an accident. he was fooling around with lots of women, then he decided to settle for a trophy cindy with her rich father who could help him politically.His first wife said "McCain divorced me because he does not want to be 40 but to be 25 again and that is why he went for Cindy (she is younger and l was older and crippled). He understand nothing but WAR, he thinks it is romantic and build character. If you vote for McCain its the end of ROE, 100 years in Iraq and war with Iran. His war experience made his career, he thinks sending your kids to torture camps will make them better people.

McCain is not fit to be president because he does not understand family values.

Besides, No to Bush McClone and NO to Bush''s third term!!!!!

[armydog2]

oil companies cut back on refining to jack up the prices. and with the profits they could very well afford to make improvements and open more refineries.
Drilling in alaska and completely destroying that are is not worth the oil we get out of there.

[armydog2]

This will hurt republican mccain, republicans controlled the congress for six years of this republican administration.and it was borrow and spend borrow and spend, then they all went along with bush and cheney and rummy and rice''s lies and got us into a war and more borrow and spend. exxon mobil post a first quarter profit of how many billions of dollars and this is not windfall profits.bush and cheney are oilmen and i bet they are making tons of money with these oil prices.yeah this is going to kill mccain''s chances of winning the whitehouse.
Trickle down economy,the price of gas goes up, the cost to transport goods goes up to pay for the gas, and that all gets passed onto us the consumers. mccain even admitted he does not even understand economics,

[jack3213]

Give me a BREAK! How insane is this paper? It isn''t the Republicnas who aren''t allowing drilling in the USA- it is the Democratic Congress- you morons.

[slagroup]

taxing oil companies or going after their profits does nothing for the avg person. need politicians who think long term and talk about sacrifce. need to reduce energy use combined with drilling on american soil. all of us should drive the speed limit and drive higher mpg cars. use findfueldeals.com to find the lowest gas prices near your home.

[likeitis5050]

Going after the profits in oil guarantees no drilling in our own back yard. This is the answer for Democrats...wipe out the profit and the oil companies have no way to pay for development and drilling and then the government can step in and offer to help...as regulations and controls dig in deeper....and before you know all the work is government run....and government owned. Ta da....the Democrats will rule the day. Of course by then the price will HAVE to stay high to pay for development and expansion from the taxes they use to pay the oil companies to drill and produce...so tax payers still get it in the end.

Drill now and drill here means the profits are used to create an industry that pulls us off the foreign oil t.i.t. with time to develop the alternate energy industry. Obama is aiming us toward socialism and he really isn''t hiding that fact...he just won''t come out and say the word and of course the panty-throwing, fainting followers will embrace anything he says or does at this stage in the game so why should he say it? tick tick tick

[toldyouso12]

Hillary Clinton nominated as VP would be an asset for him.

Posted by gaby43 at 12:01 PM : Jun 10, 2008


Not for him. For Hillary. HRC would sabotage and undermine his Presidency--she has already shown her hand and it is a very ugly one. Outside of her supporters and herself, very few think this is a good idea--in fact, many say it will guarantee a dysfunctional government---whatever good Hillary could do as VP, she can do in the position of Senator, instead.

[toldyouso12]

%u201COf all the products that we buy, there is none in which the price is so obvious and so in our face,%u201D said Stephen Hess, a presidential analyst at the Brookings Institution. %u201CIt%u2019s not how often we buy gas - it%u2019s how often we pass a gas station. It has a built-in irritant.%u201D


This article misses the point. Sure gas costs a lot--but TRUCKS that take food and goods to stores, have to raise their prices, which makes the stores raise their prices--then the CONSUMER pays AGAIN in higher prices for goods.

Government tries to curb their costs which are higher due to a devalued dollar, that is due to borrowing against a promise..then the extra revenue is made up with taxes to the CONSUMER.

Meanwhile, the gov. loses over 3-500 MILLION a day on a war in Iraq, so they make states take over more gov programs so states raise prices for consumers.

In other words, the consumer gets hit by everyone--and this is what McCain wants to continue--then on top of all this--they want consumers to keep spending a lot---as if we all have the extra cash for higher gas, food, fees, utilities, property taxes, sales taxes, etc AND money left over to buy junk. THAT is the point.

[megamanx1-2009]

IF AT ANY POINT I FORGET WHAT THE REPUBLICAN PARTY HAS DONE TO THIS COUNTRY AND THIS ECONOMY.... I AM REMINDED EVERY TIME I DRIVE PASS A GAS STATION...


DOMESTIC TERRORISM? BIN LADEN AINT GOT NOTHING ON BUSH AND CHEANEY......