Higher gas prices cloud Obama’s reelection bid
WASHINGTON ( AP) — President Barack Obama sought Thursday to confront rising public anxiety about soaring gasoline prices which are threatening to undercut his reelection prospects and offering Republicans an easy target.
Obama was seeking to rev up his supporters as he hauled in campaign cash in the important battleground state of Florida, which he may need to capture to hold the White House in November. He accused his Republican presidential rivals of peddling a philosophy that is “wrong about America,” casting them as protectors of the wealthy who would leave everyone else to fend for themselves.
Obama assailed Republicans for offering what he described as flawed and dishonest plans to lower gasoline prices. He said dismissively that all the Republicans can talk about is more drilling – “a bumper sticker ... a strategy to get politicians through an election” – when America’s energy challenges demand much more. In a speech in Miami, he promoted the expansion of domestic oil and gas exploration but also the development of new forms of energy.
For all the political claims, economists say there’s not much a president of either party can do about gasoline prices in the short term. But it’s clear that people are concerned – a new GFK poll says seven in 10 find the issue deeply important – so it’s sure to be a political issue through the summer.
Obama aides worry that the rise in prices could reverse the country’s economic gains and the president’s improved political standing. The poll shows that though Obama’s approval rating on the economy has climbed, 58 percent disapprove of what he’s doing on gas prices.
Obama insisted there are no short- term solutions to high gas prices, and that anyone suggesting otherwise was not being honest. Still, he sought to offer something to anxious voters by saying he had ordered his administration to search for every possible area to help consumers in the coming months.
He sought to take credit for rising oil and natural gas production, a greater mix of energy sources and decreased consumption.