The average price of gas rose above $4 in all 50 states for the first time ever this week – and that’s just one of the numerical signs of a growing crisis at the pump.
SO WHAT
President Biden and the Democrats look poised to pay the price in November.
THE NUMBERS
Thursday saw a geyser of bad news about rising gas prices, including these three numbers:
$4.589: The current national average price of regular fuel is the highest since AAA Auto Club began tracking the data.
$4.00: The minimum average price of gasoline in every state rose above $4 for the first time, according to AAA.
$6.00: According to analysts at JP Morgan, the price for regular gasoline will surpass $6 a gallon by the end of the summer.
“The high cost of oil, the key ingredient in gasoline, is driving these high pump prices for consumers,” AAA spokesperson Andrew Gross said. “Even the annual seasonal demand dip for gasoline during the lull between spring break and Memorial Day, which would normally help lower prices, is having no effect this year.”
FOR COMPARISON: The national average price of a gallon of gasoline was $2.38 when Donald Trump, Biden’s predecessor, left office, per the Energy Information Administration.
THE POLITICS
While political observers are split on how much blame Biden deserves for the surging cost of gas, everyone agrees its a disaster for his party ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Democrats have expressed hope that a renewed abortion fight will mobilize liberal voters, but Americans have continued to name the economy, particularly inflation and rising costs, as their chief concern.
- A Rasmussen Reports and Heartland Institute poll released in early May found that 82% of voters are worried about rising gas prices, with 60% saying they’re “very concerned” about the crisis.
- According to a CNN poll released earlier this month, 55% of Americans believe Biden policies have worsened economic conditions in the country.
The upshot is that the Democratic Party’s midterm forecast looks grim, with internal swing state polling proffering especially bad news.
- “During a Thursday luncheon last week with [Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee] Chair Sean Patrick Maloney, Frontline Democrats – the party’s most endangered lawmakers – were told that, in battleground districts, the generic Republican is beating the generic Democrat, 47-39, according to lawmakers, multiple party officials and the DCCC,” Punchbowl News reported Wednesday.