Will Falling Gas Prices Save the GOP?

All across the country there are new signs going up supporting John McCain for President.  They are not in front yards or on billboards; they are at the local gas station.  Nationwide, the price of gasoline has fallen below $3 per gallon.  This is the first good news for the McCain/Palin ticket in nearly a month.

Before the Wall Street meltdown and the $700 billion bailout, John McCain was tied or slightly ahead in most national polls.  After the sub-prime mortgage debacle and the collapse of the real estate market, McCain’s popularity dropped like a rock.  Historically, the party holding the White House gets the blame when the economy heads south.  Senator Obama's recent attempts to place the blame on the last eight years of Bush's economic policies and to tar McCain with the same brush are beginning to unravel with the American public. Even some Democrats are having second thoughts.  There was this stunning admission in the USA Today article “How Congress set the stage for a meltdown”  where Rep. Artur Davis, (D-AL) confesses; "Frankly, I wish my Democratic colleagues would admit, when it comes to Fannie and Freddie, we were wrong."

Now that some time has passed and stock prices, at least for the moment, have stabilized, cooler heads are starting to prevail.  To most Americans, Wall Street is an abstract.  It is a place they’ve heard of, but don’t quite understand.  The same applies to any discussion of hundreds of billions of dollars.  The number is simply too large to comprehend.

Self-service gasoline for $2.79 a gallon is reality.  When a tank of gas costs $25 dollars less than it did just a few weeks ago, the mood in America starts to change. 

As the price at the pump falls, McCain/Palin gradually closes the gap in the polls with Obama/Biden.  As the American people’s anger dissipates, they are starting to look long and hard at Barack Obama.  Many do not like what they see. 

They see a man with the least experience and thinnest resume to ever get a major party’s nomination.  They see a man with questionable friends and shady business dealings.  They see the most liberal U.S. Senator who chose the third most liberal Senator for his running mate to ‘balance the ticket’.

They see a smooth talker who thinks he is smarter than they are. 

Americans are starting to ask “Is this the guy we want leading our country for the next four years?”   Talking about skydiving over a beer at the local pub is very different than actually standing in the door of an airplane with a parachute strapped to your back.  When push comes to shove, will enough people be willing to make the leap of faith for Obama or will there be enough doubt for McCain to win?

In a year when any other Democrat would win the White House in a walk, Barack Obama may be in trouble.  The MSM has a history of skewing their polls toward Democrats.  Polls two weeks before the elections show Obama’s numbers to be almost identical to the lead enjoyed by both John Kerry and Al Gore in their losing presidential bids.

If the stock market doesn’t have another sell off and gasoline prices stay under $3 dollars a gallon; things could be very interesting on Election Day.  

rgregg9305

October 24, 2008

Foster,

I think the hope that falling gas prices will help the McCain campaign might hold some credence, but the problems we are facing in the eyes of most of the middle class go well beyond the high cost of gas. Obama for all his weaknesses, at least offers some hope to the millions of Americans who are falling through the cracks, worrying for their jobs, or keeping their homes. How did we end up in this ditch? Eight years of war, jobs being outsourced, and the blatant corporate greed we have seen on Wall Street have turned millions of conservatives away from what John McCain is currently selling. Unless Obama makes some huge mistake in the next few weeks, McCain's loss on election day will be directly due to the misguided policies of the current Administration. The American electorate has simply lost faith in the ideals McCain is offering.

Rod

redletterbelievers

October 23, 2008

It is amazing how fickle we are in this country. And shame on the Dems for trying to hang this whole debacle on the Republicans.

There is plenty of blame to go around!

I recently blogged about "blame" here:

http://redletterbelievers.blogspot.com/2008/10/whos-to-blame.html

David Rupert

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d

October 23, 2008

Let me see if I understand your point. For example, you allow me to hunt on your property and I proceed to destroy hundreds of acres by carelessly letting my campfire go unattended. What I hear you saying is that I'm not responsible because you allowed me to camp and hunt your land. So are we saying that the banks and investment houses are blameless?

d

October 23, 2008

Congratulations to Artur Davis for admitting a mistake. This is more than can be said for Greenspan, Cox, anyone in the current administration or Wall Street.

italy

October 22, 2008

With eyes cast up to heaven, I can only whisper, "From your lips to God's ears.