Rising bomb prices have already armed Republicans with a new weapon to hit President Joe Biden as they target his climate policies and economic strategy, a harbinger of what’s to come as the election season heats up .
Gasoline’s rally to a 10-month high comes amid concerns about a tight oil market, with Saudi Arabia cutting output and Russia cutting exports, along with better-than-expected US economic data ‘I expected. And while fuel costs remained modest through May and June, the recent advance is another reminder of how inflation is eating away at Americans’ wallets.
“Americans have been very quick to blame the White House” for past price spikes, said Patrick DeHaan, head of oil analysis at fuel tracker Gas Buddy. “Going into an election, you don’t want to be a president who is getting a lot of time in the face of high oil or gas prices. Even above $4 a gallon is going to be very difficult.”
Retail gasoline already flirts with that level, or exceeds it, elsewhere in the country, averaging $3.875 a gallon unleaded, according to the AAA auto club. Still, prices are well below where they were early last summer, when the national average hit $5 a gallon, and even topped $6 a gallon in California.
Republicans have noticed. From Washington to Iowa, they have seized on rising prices and blamed Biden’s environmental policies, including a 2021 measure to revoke a permit for TC Energy Corp.’s Keystone XL pipeline. While analysts say the actions have not significantly affected oil production and prices in the short term, they are powerful political fodder for Republicans seeking to disarm Biden’s central campaign of “Bidenomics.”
“President Biden has forced the American people to bear the cost of his radical agenda,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said in an email last week. “Higher prices, greater uncertainty and out-of-touch policies: this is Bidenomics.”
Pump prices are one of the most visible signs of inflation, a key issue for swing voters that will be key on Election Day. “It’s the only thing you buy where you’re standing there and the numbers roll in,” said Benjamin Salisbury, director of research at Height Capital Markets. “It has a deeper impact on the American consumer and voter than virtually any other issue.”
And polls show the economy is weighing heavily on the president’s approval rating, particularly among independent voters, noted James Lucier, managing director of research group Capital Alpha Partners. Biden is “more vulnerable because of the perception that inflation and the economy have been worse under him.”
At the Iowa State Fair, former Vice President Mike Pence highlighted high gas prices as he laid out a vision for US energy policy that includes more oil leasing and fewer regulatory barriers. He also released a campaign video accusing Biden of waging a “war on energy” that is driving up fuel pump costs at the electric meter.
The trend is raising alarms in the White House. The Biden administration earlier this month delayed a plan to begin replenishing the nation’s emergency stockpile as oil futures rose above $80 a barrel, putting potential purchases above the US price target and threatening to fuel the recovery in crude oil further.
For Biden, a major risk is that his campaign is intertwined with the issue. The president and Democratic allies have been promoting his sweeping climate and tax bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, which is directing hundreds of billions of dollars toward electric vehicles and other clean energy resources as a way to “generate economic growth” and boost. a green transition that promises to protect Americans from volatile energy prices.
But for some voters, it’s just a vivid reminder of how outspoken the president is against gas prices today. “It’s not like he’s talking about ‘how can I help you with gas prices.’ He’s out there talking about how soon you won’t need gas,” Salisbury said. When it comes to pump prices, “he has wrapped his political identity around transition, rather than mitigation.”
–With the help of Stephanie Lai.
